Since November 11, a number of accounts on X and Facebook have been circulating two photos they claim show Chadian soldiers arresting two French soldiers for helping Boko Haram. But in reality, these photos were taken during a joint training exercise carried out by French and Chadian soldiers in late October, according to both the French army and the Chadian soldier who first posted these photos online and spoke to French news outlet TF1.
Two photos, purporting to show Chadian soldiers arresting French soldiers on suspicion of terrorism, have been circulating on X since November 11. Many of the posts have come from accounts that support the governments of the Alliance of Sahel States, made up of neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all of whom have cut ties with the French military.
The photos show two French soldiers in uniform, standing or on their knees, with their hands behind their heads, under the surveillance of three armed soldiers from the Chadian Army.
The accounts that have been circulating these photos claim that they show “French legionnaires” (soldiers who serving with the French Foreign Legion, a part of the French army made up of foreign nationals) who were arrested by the Chadian army for “training terrorists”. One of the X accounts that made these claims is an English-language account called African Hub. Its post from November 12 has since garnered more than 250,000 views.
However, these photos don’t show the Chadian army arresting French soldiers. They actually show a joint military exercise conducted by the two armies.
Our team also reached out to this Facebook page but has not yet received a response.