Claim: A video shows Islamabad police assaulting passengers at the airport.
Fact: The clip shows Islamabad police violently beating people at the Islamabad Press Club. It can be traced back to October 2025.
On August 11 2026, a Facebook account named Quaid News Network shared a video showing a police officer assaulting a man with a stick. The caption reads:
اسلام آباد ایئرپورٹ”
اسلام آباد پولیس کی جانب سے مسافروں کے ساتھ طاقت اور تشدد کا یہ رویہ انسانی وقار کی کھلی توہین ہے۔
#trendingreels #highlightseveryone #foryoupage #viralreelschallenge #facebookreels
“#foryoupageシ #nonfollowers”
[Translation: “Islamabad Airport
This display of force and violence by the Islamabad Police against passengers is a blatant affront to human dignity.
#trendingreels #highlightseveryone #foryoupage #viralreelschallenge #facebookreels #foryoupageシ #nonfollowers”]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first searched for credible publications reporting on the incident but did not find any relevant results. A reverse-image search of the video led to PTI member Qasim Khan Suri’s Facebook account where he had shared the clip on 2 October 2025.
The 28-second long video starts with a few police officers standing with sticks as one of them pushes a camera person away. The shot then moves to inside a hall where a police officer can be seen beating someone with a stick, with a few bystanders in the background, matching the description of the video under investigation.
The caption reads:
نیشنل پریس کلب کے اندر اور کیفے ٹیریا میں اسلام آباد پولیس کا صحافیوں پر تشدد، صدر پاکستان فیڈرل یونین آف جرنلسٹس افضل بٹ صاحب ایک نظر ادھر بھی، کم از کم اپنے حقوق کے لیے تو کھڑے ہو جائیں!
#FascismUnderAsimLaw
#RegimeChangeInPakistan
[Translation: “Islamabad Police assaulted journalists inside the National Press Club and its cafeteria; Mr. Afzal Butt, President of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, please take note of this too—at the very least, stand up for your own rights!
#FascismUnderAsimLaw
#RegimeChangeInPakistan.”]
Left: Video under investigation claiming the visuals are of Islamabad police assaulting passengers at Islamabad airport on 11 August, Right: Similar visuals shared by PTI’s Qasim Khan Suri claiming it shows Islamabad police assaulting journalists at National Press Club on 2 October 2025.
Soch Fact Check then conducted a keyword search of “islamabad police beats journalists inside press club” to verify the details mentioned in Suri’s post. The search led to Instagram pages of news publications like Dawn and Geo News that shared the same visuals on 2 October 2025 as well. Corroborating Suri’s caption, they also reported that the video shows Islamabad police’s assault on journalists at National Press Club (NPC), not on passengers at the airport.
A news article by Dawn, published on the same date, quoted a Geo News journalist named Shiraz Gardezi recounting the incident. He said the police tried to stop journalists from covering a protest at the National Press Club (NPC) organised by the now-banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC).
Gardezi, who is also the senior joint secretary at NPC according to the report, added that the police tried to snatch mobile phones and cameras from journalists. He also accused the police of storming inside the press club and breaking various things in the cafeteria where they “beat and tortured” people.
Instagram pages of Geo News and Dawn shared visuals of Islamabad police’s assault on journalists, dated 2 October 2026.
Since credible news publications reported on the visuals being from Islamabad police’s assault on journalists at the press club, not passengers at the airport, Soch Fact Check concluded the clip has been circulated with false details.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral post on Facebook with as many as 570 likes and 1,400 shares. It garnered more reach after it was shared by other accounts on the platform where it received 3,300 and 427 shares separately.
Conclusion: The viral video does not show Islamabad police assaulting passengers at the airport. It is from October 2026 when Islamabad police assaulted journalists at the National Press Club (NPC).
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