Egypt TV host uses video game to show Russian air raids

Egyptian television host Ahmed Moussa has used footage from a video game to depict what he called the “effectiveness” and “precision” of the Russian air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Syria.

In a recent show, Moussa lavished Russia with praise for its approach in Syria, especially in comparison to the actions taken by the United States, which he criticised strongly.

The video footage he used on his show, however, appears to have been taken directly from a Russian-made video game called “Apache: Air Assault”, which was developed by Russian developer Gaijin Entertainment and published by Activision.

The video game features American-accented helicopter pilots giving location coordinates, firing off Apache-mounted machine guns, and launching missiles against fighters.

Before he aired the tape, Moussa, gave praise and admiration for Russia.

“Yes, this is Russia; this is the Russian army. This is Putin,” he said.

“This is the Russian federation. Are they confronting terrorism? Yes, they are.

“The Americans were too soft on ISIL. The US has been there for a year and a half, and we have seen not one bullet from them, nor have we seen anyone getting killed by them.”

As he played the tape, he described the scene as a helicopter destroying its targets with missiles and machine guns.

“Look at this precision, look at the missiles that targeted even one single terrorist hiding behind a tree,” he said.

It is not known whether Moussa was aware that the footage was from a video game.

Moussa’s use of the video game has attracted the attention of the online community, with a number of memes being shared on social media since the show aired.

Tonight Ahmed Moussa will air a report on Cairo traffic pic.twitter.com/D167csZ5i9

— Basil El-Dabh | باسل الضبع (@basildabh) October 12, 2015

Moussa is no stranger to controversy and is known to voice pro-government lines while criticising the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood organisation and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Early in 2015, he accused Hamas of killing Ezzedeen al-Qassam, the namesake of the group’s military wing – despite that the fact that al-Qassam was killed in Palestine by the British in 1935.