The image of a building in Bosnia-Herzegovina illuminated with the colors of the Kosovo flag is being shared on social networks in support of the countries of the region after the terrorist attack in the north of the country. Fact checking revealed that the image is doctored from a 2019 photo.

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A photo of a building illuminated with the colors of the Kosovar flag is being shared on social networks as Bosnia-Herzegovina’s support for Kosovo after the terrorist attack that killed a Kosovar policeman on September 24, 2023.

The initial indicators that the image above is manipulated is the shape of the design. The blue square illuminates in an unnatural way, not only the building but also part of the square in front of it. Furthermore, the shape of the Kosovo map does not show refraction, as it would if it were illuminated on a non-flat surface, such as a wall with windows.

A Google Reverse Image Search image search revealed that the building above is the Sarajevo Municipality building .

But, as Kallxo ‘s colleagues have also verified , the original version of the above image appeared for the first time on the Klix media site, in 2019. In these photos, the Kosovo flag does not appear.

Original photo

Below is a comparison between the edited image and the original photo.

Due to the conditional decision-making by the entity Republika Srpska or Republika Srpska, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the countries in the region that has not yet recognized Kosovo’s independence.

The posting of this photo has caused an internal debate in Bosnia as well, where the politicians who have fallen prey to the montage have drawn the attention of the municipality of Sarajevo to this action.