Claim: A video shows a toddler crying “papa” near the body of a Pashtun police officer martyred by the Taliban.
Fact: The claim is false. The video shows a Syrian child crying over the body of her father, who was killed in an ISIS attack in Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib.
A video showing a toddler crying over a body has been shared online with the following caption: “This message from the innocent daughter of the police officer martyred at the hands of Fitna-al-Khawarij will be remembered. Avenging her father’s blood is a debt upon the state, the government, Markhor, and the entire nation.
And this debt will be repaid, In shaa Allah.”
The same video was also shared with this caption:
“Watch this video by putting your hand on your heart. This innocent lioness girl is saying Baba Baba and saying goodbye to her father. This is the daughter of this Pashtun martyred police officer who has been martyred by Taliban terrorists. Now you think about those who call them unfortunate. Should we negotiate with these terrorist dogs?”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral clip and found that it was initially circulated in connection with an attack in Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib, Syria. We contacted Abdulrahman Rabie, a freelance fact-checker associated with the Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN), who helped trace the video to its original source. According to Rabie, the footage was first shared on 16 December by Syrian journalist and photographer Anas Al-Maarawi. The video was captioned: “طفلة تووع والدها الوواع الاخير”
[Translation: A child bids farewell to her father.]
Rabie further informed us that the same journalist had shared another video, on 14 December, filmed outside a hospital. In the footage, he reported that four personnel were killed and a fifth was injured after a Road Security patrol came under direct gunfire in the city of Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib, Syria. The video was captioned: “استشهاد أربعة عناصر واصابة الخامس جراء إطلاق رصاص مباشر على دورية لأمن الطرق في مدينة معرة النعمان جنوبي ادلب.”
[Translation: Four personnel were martyred and a fifth was injured as a result of direct gunfire targeting a Road Security patrol in the city of Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib.]
Rabie also shared a notification issued on Telegram by the Syrian Ministry of Interior on the evening of 14 December 2025. The Ministry reported that four members of the Road Security Department were killed and a fifth was injured after one of its patrols was attacked while carrying out its duties on the Maaret al-Numan road, south of Idlib Governorate.
Notification issued by Syrian Ministry of Interior on Telegram
“On the same evening, Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV, a Syrian news outlet, aired a video by its Idlib correspondent, Mohammad Aslan, in which he outlined the details surrounding the killing of four members of the Internal Security Forces in Maaret al-Numan,” Rabie added.
Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV’s update on Telegram regarding the attack
“In the early hours of 15 December, Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV published a YouTube short by their correspondent,” according to Rabie. The correspondent “spoke about a state of security alert and the launch of investigations following the killing of four Road Security members and the injury of another, after gunfire by unknown assailants south of Maaret al-Numan in the Idlib countryside.”
Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV’s coverage of the attack
On 16 December, Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV posted an update on Telegram quoting the Ministry of Interior. Rabie explained that the statement said that the Internal Security Command in Idlib Governorate, in coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Department of the General Intelligence Service, had successfully arrested an ISIS-affiliated terrorist cell during a tightly coordinated security operation. The cell was reportedly responsible for carrying out several terrorist attacks targeting security and military patrols in the governorates of Idlib and Aleppo.
Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV’s update on Telegram on 16 December
Translation of Syrian Al-Ikhbariyah TV’s update on Telegram on 16 December
Rabie concluded that the viral clip is from Syria, and was filmed and shared following the attack in Maaret al-Numan on 14 December.
The video was subsequently shared on 17 December by Arabic-language newspaper Al-Estiklal English’s official X account. The video was captioned: “An emotional moment in Syria: a young girl bids farewell to her father, killed in an ISIS attack in Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib.”
The video was also shared by Instagram user @Syrian_9.63 on 17 December with the caption:
طفلة تودع والدها الذي طالته يد الغدر في معرة النعمان رحمه الله و أسكنه فسيح جناته وتقبله الله من الشهداء
[Translation: A little girl bids farewell to her father, who was struck down by treachery in Maaret al-Numan. May God have mercy on him, grant him a place in His vast paradise, and accept him among the martyrs.]
While the account is not an official news outlet, it appears to report on developments in Syria based on its bio and content.
We traced other posts with similar captions.
Soch Fact Check further searched for news reports of an ISIS attack in Maaret al-Numan. According to a report by North Press Agency, a Syrian news outlet, published on 15 December, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib, which killed four Syrian transitional government security personnel and injured another. The attack targeted a security patrol with machine-gun fire, damaging their vehicle, according to ISIS’s Amaq news outlet, the report added.
On 23 December, the Syrian Observer reported that following the attack, Syrian security forces intensified operations against ISIS amid a surge in attacks on government officials. The Syrian Observer article also referenced the Maaret al-Numan attack, noting that the assailants fired on a security vehicle before fleeing.
Soch Fact Check also searched for news reports regarding any recent TTP attacks involving the killing of police personnel in Pakistan. We found multiple reports stating that five police officers were killed when a group of militants ambushed a police van in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 23 December. Police officials confirmed that the attack occurred in the Gurguri area of Karak, after which a search operation was launched in which eight militants were killed.
According to district police spokesperson Shaukat Khan, all five victims were constables, reported Dawn. The slain personnel were identified as Shahid Iqbal, Samiullah, Arif, Safdar, and Muhammad Abrar, who was also driving the police vehicle.
However, this attack took place on 23 December, whereas the viral video first appeared online on 16 December. This indicates that the clip is not linked to the incident in Karak.
Based on the information provided by AbdulRahman Rabie and our own findings, we conclude that the viral clip originated in Syria and not Pakistan.
Virality
The claim has been shared here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, and here.
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive)
Conclusion: The viral clip does not show a young girl crying over a martyred Pashtun police officer’s body. It actually shows a Syrian child crying over the body of her father, who was killed in an ISIS attack in Maaret al-Numan, Syria.
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Background image in cover photo: North Press Agency