Claim: A video shows Afghanistan striking Pakistan in retaliation for airstrikes inside its territory in February 2026.
Fact: The video is not recent. It likely shows a Russian attack on Ukraine as it was shared by publications indicating so in April 2025.
On 25 February, an X user posted a video (archive) apparently showing Pakistan getting attacked by Afghanistan. The description of the post reads:
“Pakistan has been attacked.
One hundred soldiers have been killed.
This war will not stop.”
The caption suggests that Pakistan was targeted in retaliation for its recent airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan
Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, targeting militant hideouts on 21 February 2026, according to Dawn. The strikes were in response to a series of terror attacks in Pakistan — which the country blames on militants operating from the neighboring country— according to an X post by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Afghan authorities, cited by publications, acknowledged the attacks and stated that civilians, including women and children, were among the dead. Sources quoted by Dawn and Reuters claimed that at least 70 terrorists had been killed in the attack.
The airstrikes reportedly targeted regions in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in Afghanistan.
The two sides engaged in clashes along the border following the Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan on 21 February.
Afghanistan launched retaliatory attacks against Pakistani posts on the border on 26 February. Soon after, Pakistan launched an operation in response, conducting airstrikes in Kabul and other cities. This is a developing story.
Therefore, this article only fact-checks the video circulating online, which appeared some time before the retaliatory strikes.
Fact or Fiction?
Reverse-searching keyframes from the video revealed that it is old and unrelated to the recent Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes. Several news outlets published the video in 2025, linking it to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Guardian posted a video report (archive) on YouTube, titled, “‘Massive’ Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine,” on 24 April 2025. The first 10 seconds of this clip match the video being fact-checked, as shown below:
On the left is the clip being factchecked which matches the scenes from the Guardian’s report on 24 April 2025.
Part of the description states: “At least nine people have been killed and more than 70 injured in Kyiv after Russia carried out one of the most devastating air attacks against Ukraine for months, with Kharkiv and other cities across the country also targeted overnight.”
Reuters shared a video (archive) on Instagram on 24 April 2025 that contains the same moments of the incident (at the beginning and at 0:09) as the one being fact-checked, confirming it is not connected to recent Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions. This report also links the video to the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine.
A Norwegian news outlet TV 2 also posted a video report (archive) on 24 April 2025, in which a brief moment at the start matches the footage being fact-checked.
La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, also shared a clip on TikTok (archive) on 24 April 2025, where the initial brief moment is the same as the one in the footage being fact-checked, linking it to Russian strikes on Ukraine.
The footage also appeared with the same claim on Facebook on 25 April 2025, in which the scenes at the beginning and at 0:11 match the one being fact-checked.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim as false.
Virality
The X post garnered 124,100 views and was liked 3,000 times.
It was also shared on X here (archive) and here (archive).
One user shared the video speculating it was recent.
It was also shared on 13 February 2026 and falsely linked to purported missile attacks on Iran.
Conclusion: The video does not show Afghanistan attacking Pakistan in February 2026. The clip is old with various publications linking it to a Russian strike on Ukraine in April 2025.
Background image in cover photo: Credendo
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