Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport in recent days. At least 16 people have been killed since last Thursday, according to Saudi authorities. As news of the attacks spreads, social media users have been sharing videos that they claim show the strikes.
While some authentic footage of the attacks and their aftermath has circulated online, DW Fact check found that several viral videos are not genuine and show signs of being AI-generated. Claim: This post with 1.7 million views on X, claims it shows the moment of an attack on the airport. The video has been online since March 2026 and could not show the most recent attacks on the airport.
Hectic camera movements and blurry footage help conceal glitches that often point to AI-generated content. However, our frame-by-frame analysis identified several inconsistencies. That suggests the video was AI-generated.
In the video, people run toward an exit as an explosion occurs outside. Despite the apparent danger, they continue moving toward the blast, seemingly through a glass door. This reaction is implausible.
Around 10 seconds into the video, an image of a hand holding a smartphone appears on the side of a man's head. At 12 seconds, one man first appears not to have a hand, then miraculously has one. Meta's AI identification tool finds AI signatures in the video and concludes it was created using generative AI.
Many shared the video as authentic, including the Times of Israel– its post had more than 256,000 views at the time of writing. The video has appeared in many languages, including Arabic, English, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Nepali, and it has been shared on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebookand other platforms. Claim: In this post on X with 2.9 million views, a user claims it shows "new video footage of the moment King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh was targeted." The video is AI-generated and contains several inconsistencies when compared with the real airport.
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