Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

An image claiming to show a huge explosion at a US military base in Iraq has been manipulated using AI. The AI fake appears to be based on a real picture we’ve verified, first shared online on Sunday, showing a cloud of smoke rising over the international airport in Irbil.

Drones have been targeting a US base near the airport in the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region since Saturday.

I’ve checked the image using Google’s SynthID watermark detector, which found it was generated or edited with Google AI.

There are also visual inconsistencies in the fake image, including the unrealistic fireball and unusually shaped structures on the right-hand side which do not appear in recent photographs taken at this location.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

BBC Verify has been tracking, verifying and mapping attacks in Iran and across the Middle East since the first air strikes by the US and Israel were reported on Saturday. We’ll bring you more of what we’ve verified today here on BBC Verify Live.

As well as providing BBC News with real, verified, material from the conflict we’re also looking into widespread sharing of disinformation on social media.

We’re seeing what appear to be AI-generated images claiming to show real attacks and damage as well as old material from previous wars being passed off as new.

We’ll take you through some examples of what’s being shared and explain why sometimes what you see online isn’t always what it claims to be.

BBC Verify is also assessing the ongoing risks to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through which around 20% of the world’s oil passes. Three vessels were attacked near the strait yesterday and ships have been warned not to attempt to transit the key route.

More on all those to come throughout the day.