Claim: TRT World reported that a blast took place in Peshawar on 29 September 2023.
Fact: The blast did not take place in Peshawar. The incident happened in Hangu – an area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which is 111 km away from Peshawar city.
Fact or Fiction?
On 29 September 2023, TRT World posted on their golden tick verified X (formerly Twitter) account that a blast targeted a mosque in Pakistan’s Peshawar city during Friday prayers. The archived version of the post is available here.
In the comment section, people commented that the blast happened in Hangu, a district of KP which is kilometres away from Peshawar premises.
Dawn News reported that two blasts targeted the Doaba police station in Hangu on Friday, 29 September 2023. Hangu District Police Officer Nisar Ahmed told Dawn that initially, five people were killed and 12 sustained injuries, as per the initial report. The death toll is expected to rise in the upcoming days.
The Express Tribune cited SHO Shabraz, who confirmed that two suicide bombers attacked the mosque during Friday prayers. Rescue 112 shifted the critically injured to nearby hospitals. Heavy machinery has been deployed to aid in rescue efforts as the explosion’s force caused the mosque’s roof to cave in.
Al-Arabiya English also misleadingly reported that the incident happened near Peshawar on X. The post caption reads, “A blast rocked a mosque in #Pakistan near the city of #Peshawar during Friday prayers.” The caption cited Geo News, but Soch Fact Check could not find any mention of Peshawar in Geo’s report.
Iftikhar Firdous, a journalist and researcher associated with The Khorasan Diary also debunked the claim by TRT World on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the blast took place in Hangu, not Peshawar.
Google Maps shows that Hangu is located 111 km away from Peshawar city. The blast was misleadingly linked to Peshawar city, which is 2 hours drive from Hangu.
Virality
The misleading claim was also shared here, and here on X.
A Facebook post claimed that 40 people died and 70 sustained injuries during the incident. However, this figure is not verified by the rescue services and law enforcement as per initial reports.
Conclusion: A suicide blast targeted a mosque in the Hangu area of KP and was misleadingly linked to Peshawar, Pakistan.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn News
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