Claim: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department issued a notification on 12 October 2026 ordering the identification and arrest of PTI workers across the province.
Fact: The viral notification contains discrepancies when compared with authentic government correspondence and official records. An OpenAI verification result also proves that the document was generated using OpenAI tools.
On 13 October 2026, social media users shared what looks like an official notification for the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers. The document, purportedly issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department, directs authorities to identify and arrest PTI workers across the province.
This image was shared widely, including by Fauzia Siddiqui on X (formerly Twitter):
Screenshot of the viral notification on X.
The document, dated 12 October 2026, is addressed to all deputy commissioners in KP. It instructs them to identify, verify, and arrest PTI workers in their respective districts. It also directs them to submit lists containing workers’ names, addresses, CNIC numbers, and other details within seven days. The letter bears the purported signature of Muhammad Iqbal Khan, identified as additional chief secretary of the Home Department.
Fact or Fiction?
Discrepancies in the government letterhead
The viral notification carries the heading “Government of Pakistan, Home Department, Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”. However, an authentic letter dated 12 February 2026, produced in the provincial government’s Cashless KP Annual Report 2026, identifies the issuing authority as “Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Home & Tribal Affairs Department”.
A separate notification issued by the same department on 30 March 2022 also carries the heading “Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Home & Tribal Affairs Department”. Both official documents therefore use a different heading and departmental designation from the viral notification.
The viral notification also features Pakistan’s national emblem at the top, while the February 2026 letter displays the provincial government’s emblem. These discrepancies raise doubts about the viral document’s authenticity, although differences in official letterheads alone cannot establish that it was fabricated.
A comparison with official KP Home & Tribal Affairs Department correspondence dated 12 February 2026 shows differences in the government heading, departmental designation, and emblem used in the viral notification.
These comparisons establish inconsistencies in the viral letter’s heading, although formatting discrepancies alone cannot conclusively establish that a document is fabricated.
Discrepancy in the named official
The document identifies Muhammad Iqbal Khan as additional chief secretary of the Home Department.
However, an official announcement published by the KP Governor House on 11 October 2026 identifies Amjad Ali Khan as Additional Chief Secretary Home, whereas the viral document, dated 12 October 2026, names Muhammad Iqbal Khan as the official holding that position.
The announcement concerns a high-level security meeting chaired by Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and lists Amjad Ali Khan among the attending officials.
The name on the viral notification therefore does not match the one identified in the Governor House’s official record immediately before the document’s purported issuance.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check could not locate the purported notification on the KP Home & Tribal Affairs Department’s official website or social media accounts.
AI verification results
An image of the viral notification was also checked using OpenAI’s verification tool, which returned the result “Generated with OpenAI tools”.
An image of the viral notification returned a positive result when checked using OpenAI’s verification tool.
According to OpenAI, the tool checks for provenance signals, including C2PA Content Credentials and SynthID watermarks, associated with images generated or edited using its tools. The result raises further questions about the viral notification’s authenticity, although it does not independently establish that the document itself was fabricated.
Governor rule imposed in KPK, detention of PTI workers
On 11 October 2026, the federal government imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The development came after President Asif Ali Zardari gave his approval under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, dealing with the proclamation of emergency in a province and imposition of governor’s rule in case of “failure of constitutional machinery” in a province, respectively.
President Zardari approved the summary after his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif a day earlier, on 10 October 2026, where they discussed the possibility of imposing an emergency in KPK. The move comes after the talks between the PML-N led federal government and the PTI-led government in the province reached a “deadlock” on 3 October when the two sides had met to discuss PTI’s long march to Islamabad and counter-terrorism policy in KPK.
After the talks ended, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas told the media that they had reached a “deadlock” over issues regarding meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan and resolving terrorism in KPK. PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said that the party’s long march would still go ahead, and also asserted that imposing an emergency or governor rule was not a solution to terrorism. PTI also posted a press release on their X account and stated that the “principal point of deadlock” between the two was their demand for immediate access to former prime minister Imran Khan. According to the party, the government did agree to restore meetings between Khan and his family but refused additional measures concerning his health and medical assessment.
On the other side, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry blamed the provincial government for failed negotiations because they “could not assure whether they would cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the future”. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also addressed a press conference in Lahore on October 4 where he held Afridi responsible for “sabotaging negotiations”. He said that the two sides had agreed upon “100% of political things” so that the KP government could come on board with the federal government on issues regarding counter-terrorism.
Following the imposition of governor’s rule in KP, the federal government formed an 11-member technocratic KP Advisory Council to assist Governor Faisal Karim Kundi with taking charge of the province. Meanwhile, KP Information Minister Shafi Jan and MNA Shahid Khattak took to their X accounts and claimed that Afridi had been arrested. A day later, on 12 October 2026, Chaudhry confirmed to Reuters that Afridi and some of his cabinet members were in preventive custody. He further clarified that those facing criminal cases would be charged and tried, while the rest would be released.
Separately, Dawn reported on 13 October 2026 that police had arrested around 140 PTI workers in Swabi and five party leaders in Lower Chitral. Several PTI leaders and workers were also arrested in Abbottabad and Battagram, while the number of arrests in Charsadda had reached 15. Former provincial assembly speaker and MPA Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani was also placed under house arrest in Abbottabad. The arrests were reported amid police raids targeting PTI leaders and workers across multiple districts.
Virality
The claim circulated widely on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Soch Fact Check identified at least 20 Facebook posts and three X posts sharing the purported notification.
A post shared by Fauzia Siddiqui on X on 13 October 2026 had accumulated approximately 56,200 views, 794 likes, 450 reposts, and 79 replies.
Conclusion: The viral notification ordering the identification and arrest of PTI workers is fake. Its letterhead differs from authentic KP Home Department correspondence, and the named signatory does not match the official identified in government records. An OpenAI verification result also proves that the image was generated or edited using OpenAI tools. Together, these findings strongly suggest that the notification is fabricated, although direct confirmation from the KP Home Department remains pending.
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