Old video of fire near Shah Faisal mosque shared as Indian drone strike in Islamabad amid escalating tensions
Even as as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following military strikes between the two countries, unverified images and videos claiming to be related to the conflict have flooded social media. A picture and a video are being shared with the claim that Indian suicide drones struck an area near Pakistan’s Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.
A fortnight after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam had killed 26 people, Indian armed forces in the early hours of May 7 launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine sites 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. Late on May 7, reports came in of heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan on forward villages along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu and Kashmir killing at least 16 civilians. They also attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India including in Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot and Amritsar, among other places, using drones and missiles. These were neutralized by India’s integrated counter UAS grid and air defence systems. Subsequently, Indian armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan in a proportionate response, and neutralized the air defence system in Lahore.
The viral video in question seems to be recorded from a vehicle and shows a roadside building on fire. The picture also shows a similar scene. A verified account named Arman Khan tweeted this picture and claimed it showed a drone attack on Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. (Archived link)
Many users posted this picture with the same claim. (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4)
Click to view slideshow.
X account WarUpdates also posted the viral picture and video, calling it unconfirmed footage. (Archived link)
X user Mohammad Sharifi posted a video of the same incident claiming it to be an Indian drone attack on a mosque in Islamabad. ( Archive link )
The viral clip has also been uploaded on YouTube with similar claims.
Fact Check
Alt News started investigating both the viral clip and the image. A simple keyword search based on the claim led us to a report by a Pakistani media outlet dated May 28, 2024 which carried the same photo. According to the report, a fire broke out near the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad and spread to surrounding areas. In other words, the viral image and video have nothing to do with the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict.
The article contains other visuals of the incident which match the viral video and image.
Pakistani newspaper Pakistan Observer also published a report on this matter and gave the same information.
To sum up, the video and image shared with the claim that the fire at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad was caused by an Indian drone attack are from a fire last year in which the mosque in Islamabad and its surroundings were gutted.
The post Old video of fire near Shah Faisal mosque shared as Indian drone strike in Islamabad amid escalating tensions appeared first on Alt News.
News