FACT CHECK: Explosion at Jammu Air Force Base in India? No, image is from Kabul in 2021

On Friday morning, the fact check wing of the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, debunked a photo widely shared on social media platforms claiming that it was footage of multiple explosions at the Jammu Air Force Base in India.

According to PIB Fact Check, the image is from the Kabul Airport blast in August 2021. A ground report from UAE-based Al Ain News carried the same photo back then.

An investigation was later ordered by the US Department of Defense to assess whether the Islamic State “or the Taliban had conducted a perceived ‘IED test run’ on August 21.”

“That day, Marine snipers who were posted at the airport observed three individuals with accompanying bags that they deemed to be suspicious,” read a US DoD report from 2024 on the same. The US had also identified the Kabul airport attacker as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State member since 2016.

Recently, the PIB also debunked more misinformation, including a video of a farm fire being widely circulated as a drone attack in Jalandhar. DC of Jalandhar put out an official statement stating the video to be a false claim.

Another staged video was shared as an Indian post under ‘20 Raj Battalion’ claimed to be destroyed by the Pakistani army. Moreover, the Indian Army does not have a unit called ‘20 Raj Battalion’.

A doctored 2020 video from Lebanon was also shared with the claim that Pakistan launched a missile attack on India in retaliation.

India