FACT CHECK: Video Showing UN Vehicles Are Irish Defense Forces

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on X claims to show United Nations (UN) vehicles down the M50 motorway.

Verdict: Misleading

These are Irish Defense Forces vehicles. They were likely part of the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Fact Check:

Social media users are sharing a video of what appears to be UN vehicles traveling on a highway. One user wrote, “That reassuring sight of seeing UN Military vehicles filled with troops cruising down the M50 Motorway.”

This claim, though, appears to be misleading. The vehicles, while they do have UN markings, are likely Irish Defense Forces vehicles returning from peacekeeping duties.

These vehicles traveled down the M50 Motorway on April 22, RTIE reported. 133 Irish troops returned in early April from peacekeeping duties in Syria, according to the Irish Independent.

The Irish Defense Forces stated they were moving “convoys of military equipment from Dublin port” in an April 22 tweet.

“PSA – Large convoys of military equipment will be moving from Dublin port to the Defence Forces Training Centre today via the M50 and M7 at 1000, 1400 and 1700hrs,” the tweet reads.

Images posted by RTIE show that the military vehicles have UN markings. The vehicles in the video, which appear to be armored personnel carriers, match the ones in the RTIE images. (RELATED: Does Video Show Explosion At Francis Scott Key Bridge?)

“On Monday, convoys containing Irish-owned military equipment that has been used in peacekeeping operations in Syria as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission, which Ireland has now withdrawn from after ten years in the mission area. This equipment has now been returned to Ireland as part of a logistical operation conducted by Óglaigh na hÉireann,” an Irish Defense Forces spokesperson told Check Your Fact in an email.

“The convoys were a combination of articulated lorries, demountable rack offload and pickup system (DROPS) vehicles carrying large shipping containers, and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs). All vehicles are Óglaigh na hÉireann vehicles and easily identifiable as same,” the spokesperson continued.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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