PMF denies Samarra clash; AAH and Badr outlets carry it minutes apart

On the afternoon of 5 August, Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) and then Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official) posted, two minutes apart, a Popular Mobilization Forces denial that an armed clash had taken place between its forces and any other force in Samarra. Neither post identifies the other force, gives a time or place for the alleged clash, or describes what prompted the denial. No supplied evidence — militia or outside — reports the underlying incident, so the only established fact is that the denial was issued and relayed on two networks.