Photo shows British troops leaving Afghanistan, not US troops deployed to Philippines
An old photo of exhausted British troops has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed American soldiers on their way to assist the Philippines in March 2024. The photo, which was altered to include a US flag, in fact circulated online since the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The photo, which was posted on Facebook on March 28, 2024, appeared to show dozens of soldiers sleeping in an enclosed area adorned with a US flag.
The post claimed 17,500 American and Philippine troops were deployed to "Subic Bay Base", a reference to a former US military base north of the capital Manila.
The same photo was shared elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here, on social media platform X, and as the thumbnail for a YouTube video.
It circulated after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stood by its "ironclad" commitments to defend the Philippines, following incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels near disputed reefs in the South China Sea.
After that declaration of support, the Philippine Coast Guard accused a Chinese vessel of "dangerous manoeuvres" as it attempted to block Filipino scientists from reaching a reef in the South China Sea.
A day later, Manila said the China Coast Guard blocked a Filipino supply vessel near Second Thomas Shoal, dousing the ship with a water cannon, causing damage and injuring those on board.
While a combined force of 16,000 US and Philippine troops will take part in war games starting from April 22, the photo circulating on social media does not show American troops on their way to the country (archived link).
British soldiers leaving Afghanistan
A reverse image search on Google led to similar images that were posted on social media platforms LinkedIn and X in August 2021 (archived links here and here).
There is no US flag visible in these photos.
These were posted by United Kingdom-based users after US-led forces pulled out of Afghanistan, bringing an end to America's longest war.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the altered photo (left) and a photo posted in 2021 (right):
The same photo was also posted on X by US army lieutenant general Maria Gervais in September 2021, who referred to the troops as "American hero's (sic)".
The post has since been deleted, after Gervais corrected herself saying: "Absolutely correct— British troops— thankful to our British heroes and all who helped w/ this mission! Absolutely love the picture!!"
An article in the UK's Daily Express newspaper published September 7, 2021 criticised her post and described the photo as showing "exhausted-looking Parachute Regiment soldiers flying back to the UK" after serving in Afghanistan (archived link).
A closer analysis of the photo also shows the soldiers are wearing British army uniforms and are holding SA80 rifles -- the British army's "standard combat weapons" (archived links here and here).
Balikatan war games
Colonel Michael Logico of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on March 20 that US soldiers were beginning to arrive for annual joint military exercises dubbed Balikatan, or "shoulder to shoulder" in Filipino, to be held from April to May (archived link).
The annual war games will involve 5,000 Philippine soldiers, 11,000 American troops as well as defence forces from Australia and France.
The 17,500 figure mentioned in the false posts appears to have come from the 2023 iteration of the Balikatan war games -- dubbed the "largest-ever" joint military exercises (archived link).
Commander Matthew Comer, chief of the US Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs, told AFP on April 6, 2024 that "everything about that photo... is inaccurate".
He said the number of US forces operating in the Philippines is increasing because of current and upcoming exercises and joint operations.
But he stated: "Tens of thousands of soldiers were not deployed to Subic."
AFP has previously debunked false claims related to the US military and the South China Sea dispute here and here.
