Beirut port explosion video from 2020 shared as retaliatory missile attack by Pakistan

Within hours of the news break about India’s Operation Sindoor targeting terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on May 7, a video of an explosion was shared on social media claiming that Pakistan retaliated by attacking India with a missile.

A fortnight after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam had killed 26 people, Indian Armed Forces hit nine sites containing terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK from where attacks against India had been planned and directed. The Union ministry of defence described the action as “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”, with no Pakistani military facilities having been targeted.

X handle @QTHESTORMM shared the video and wrote, “Major update: Pakistan retaliates against India just now in recent missile attack”. (Archived link)

Another X account called @WatcherQAnon also shared this video of the explosion making a similar claim. The user also used the Operation Sindoor hashtags along with others linking it to the India-Pakistan war. (Archived link)

Fact Check

A reverse image search using some frames taken from the viral video led us to the source video posted on X on August 5, 2020. A user named Mohamed Ibrahim shared it and described the incident as occurring in the Shinra Tensei area of the Lebanese Capital, Beirut.

We also came across a report published in 9News which included screenshots from this video. According to this article, the explosion occurred as a result of a fire in a large stock of explosive material which had been stored for years at the port in Beirut.

According to reports by IBTimes and APNEWS.com, on August 4, 2020, about 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been improperly stored for years, exploded at the Beirut port in Lebanon, killing more than 200 people. More than 7,000 were injured and the surrounding areas were devastated. The explosion was caused by a fire from an unknown source.

To sum up, this viral video actually depicts the ammonium nitrate explosion at the Beirut port in Lebanon which occurred around five years ago. This footage is being falsely circulated as a retaliatory attack by Pakistan in response to India’s Operation Sindoor.

The post Beirut port explosion video from 2020 shared as retaliatory missile attack by Pakistan appeared first on Alt News.

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