The video, which began circulating on TikTok and Telegram at 2 a.m., showed a uniformed Iraqi general—clearly identifiable as Major General Samir al-Zubaidi—issuing an order to open fire on unarmed demonstrators in Basra. Within six hours, the hashtag #AlZubaidiWarCriminal had trended across the Arab world. News outlets, desperate for clicks, ran with the footage without verification.
The fake video collapsed under the weight of truth. Protests fizzled. By nightfall, Iraq’s National Security Council announced the formation of a Cyber Authenticity Unit—and gave Layla Hamdani a field promotion. iraq national security database - leaked download
So Layla did the unthinkable—she bypassed protocol. Using her personal account, which had a modest following of 1,200 people, she posted the comparison video with a simple caption: “This is fake. Don’t let them burn your city. Share this instead.” The video, which began circulating on TikTok and