Doubtful Albanian-language portals have published yesterday and today (23 and 24 September) articles titled "Vucic should be taken! British troops 'land' at Serbia's doorstep, Great Britain is reinforcing the Kosovo Army".
The claim raised through the headline, based on research conducted by hibrid.info, turns out to be manipulated.
From what has been proven, it appears that British troops have not landed in Kosovo and that there has been no reaction from the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, as claimed in the headline.
In fact, the content of this article presents an event, which occurred on February 13 of this year, which is not related to the claim of the title of these articles. The news described in the content presents a joint exercise between troops of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) and a team from the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue (UKISAR).
Articles published by some dubious portals:
These portals have copied articles published in several online media in Kosovo, which refer to a military activity, but by changing the title. (see here)
The news in online media was made referring to a post by the Minister of Defense, Armend Mehaj, on his Facebook profile, about military activity.
Excerpts from Minister Armend Mehaj's post:
The team from the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue (UKISAR) conducted cold weather and disaster response training together with the staff of the KSF International Search and Rescue Training Center in Pomozatin (SARTC – QNTKSH).
They simulated many disaster response scenarios. These included using the training facilities at SARTC – QNTKSH to conduct post-earthquake rubble searches, victim treatment, and evacuation after a major road traffic collision and terrain. They also simulated landslide response, mountain search, victim evacuation, and cold weather survival.
Minister Mehaj's full post (here)
Analyze:
The suspicious portals appear to have used a credible news item published in Albanian-language online media to construct an article with a fabricated title.
Based on the treatment of the facts, this article is assessed as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.