Claim: An image shows three Pakistan Army soldiers recently kidnapped by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Fact: The image was shared on social media as early as 2020.
On 9 December, an X user shared an image showing three men squatting on the ground, wearing similar clothes, along with a man standing behind them in black clothes.
The photo was posted with the caption: TTP Fighter Kidnapped 3 Pakistani Army Soldier.
A comment on a similar post said this happened in DI Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa five months ago.
Two Facebook users also connected the photo to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claiming that the men shown in the photo were caught in Bannu, another district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Fact or Fiction?
This article fact-checks whether the aforementioned image shows kidnapped army personnel, A reverse-search of the image found that the same photo was posted by some Facebook users as early as September 2020.
One user had posted the image on 8 September 2020 with the following caption in Pashto:
دا تصویر زرِۃ پرې کوي!!
[Translation: This picture is heartbreaking!!]
Another user posted the same photo on the same date with the following caption:
باچا! حساب لرم، بیا به دې نسیم لۀ ګریوانه دا پۀ غؤر واؤره
[Translation: King! I have an account, I have a book, I have a doomsday. Then I will take it from the neck, listen to it carefully]
A user posted the same image on 7 September 2020, with the caption that reads:
زما نصیب دو مرہ خراب دی د سیند د غاړې مې کوټه له تندې مرمه
ویدیو په کمنټ کې
[Translation: My luck is so bad my room by the river is dying of thirst Video in the comments]
Searching through comments for the video, we found a link shared by the user, but the post was not available or had likely been deleted.
Virality
In 2025 the posted is posted by verified X users here, here and here.
On Facebook it can be seen posted here and here.
On Instagram, it can be seen here.
Conclusion: The photo being shared on X is not recent as it was found posted on Facebook as early as September 2020.
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