Claim: The Deputy Commissioner of Lahore, Syed Musa, issued an emergency public notification for evacuating parts of Lahore, alleging a “security incident around Wagah Border.” The apparent notification spread on WhatsApp in the wake of drone attacks from India the morning of 8 May 2025.
Fact: The notification is false and has been disproven by the Commissioner himself. No public evacuation order has been issued; the viral WhatsApp message about evacuations due to a security incident along the Wagah border is false.
On the morning of 8 May 2025, the Pakistani military claimed to have neutralised 25 Indian drones that had been launched across the country. Pakistan deemed this operation a “serious provocation” from New Delhi.
In the afternoon of the same day, a viral message circulated on WhatsApp, claiming that the Deputy Commissioner of Lahore had ordered an emergency evacuation of certain areas of Lahore. The message claims this is due to a “security incident…reported along the Wagah border”. The areas that need to be evacuated are DHA Phase 8, Askari 11, Paragon City, and Green City. The message further states that residents of these areas are advised to carry their “original CNICs” and “essential medications and medical equipment”. A picture of the message is shown below:
Fact or Fiction?
To verify the authenticity of this message, we checked the official X (formerly Twitter) page of the Deputy Commissioner of Lahore. The latest post on the page is a denial of this viral notification/denies that the Commissioner issued this viral emergency notification. The post stated that:
ڈپٹی کمشنر لاہور سید موسیٰ رضا کی جانب سے کسی قسم کا ایمرجنسی پبلک نوٹیفکیشن جاری نہیں کی گئی۔
سوشل میڈیا پر وائرل ہونے والی ایڈوائزری غلط، بے بنیاد اور جعلی ہے۔
عوام سے گزارش ہے کہ کسی بھی افواہ یا غیر مصدقہ اطلاع پر یقین نہ کریں۔
This translates as follows to English:
“Beware of rumors and fake news!
No emergency public notification has been issued by Lahore Deputy Commissioner Syed Musa Raza.
The advisory going viral on social media is false, baseless, and fake.”
Regarding the message’s claim of an incident along the Wagah border, prompting the evacuation of certain areas of Lahore, the post states:
واہگہ بارڈر یا اس سے ملحقہ علاقوں میں کوئی سکیورٹی واقعہ پیش نہیں آیا۔
جعلی ایڈوائزری میں ڈی ایچ اے فیز 8، عسکری 11، پیراگون سٹی اور گرین سٹی کا بے بنیاد ذکر کیا گیا ہے، جس کی کوئی حقیقت نہیں۔
This reads as follows in English:
“No security incidents occurred at the Wagah border or its adjacent areas.
The fake advisory makes baseless mention of DHA Phase 8, Askari 11, Paragon City and Green City, which is not true.”
Hence, Soch Fact Check rates this viral message as false.
India attacks sites in Pakistan
Indian airstrikes in Pakistan
In the early hours of 7 May, the Indian military launched Operation Sindoor and targeted various locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 31 people and wounding 57 others, according to Pakistani authorities. At least three children were killed by the strikes.
The attacks marked the most expansive military action between the two nations since 1971.
Pakistan military’s media-wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said civilian areas in at least six locations — including Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh, Kotli, and Muzaffarabad — were targeted.
India, however, alleged it targeted nine “terrorist camps”, a claim which has not yet been independently verified. Pakistan, on the other hand, has asserted that these sites are densely populated civilian areas. Emerging footage and on-ground reporting shows that civilians, including women and children, were injured in the attack, which lends credibility to Pakistan’s assertions that civilian areas were harmed, contrary to claims made by Indian officials. Soch Fact Check also independently confirmed deaths of several civilians in Bahawalpur, including two children.
Notably, military strikes in Pakistani Punjab are across a recognised international border and constitute a major escalation relative to the surgical strikes carried out along the Line of Control (LoC), the ceasefire line that divides Pakistan-administered Kashmir from Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the airstrikes, saying his country “has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India”.
The Pahalgam Attack
India claims its strikes were a response to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on 22 April, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
Indian officials linked the attack to Pakistan, but Islamabad has denied the claim. The Resistance Front – a group that Indian officials maintain is a proxy front for the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – initially claimed responsibility for that attack but later retracted its statement.
Pakistan demanded a neutral investigation, asserting that India has not provided any evidence to support its allegations of Pakistan’s involvement in the attack.
The Indus Waters Treaty
Soon after the attack on tourists in Pahalgam, New Delhi announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which has been in place since 1960 and has survived two wars between the neighbouring nuclear countries. Pakistan stated that attempts to stop or divert Pakistan’s water would be considered an “act of war and responded with full force across the complete spectrum of national power”.
On Tuesday, after a UNSC meeting to discuss the matter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Now, India’s water will flow for India’s benefit, it will be conserved for India’s benefit, and it will be used for India’s progress”.
Pakistan and International response to Indian attack
Hours after Indian strikes hit multiple Pakistani locations, the Pakistani military announced that they had brought down five Indian jets. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif informed Bloomberg TV that the country shot down five Indian jets and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, along with destroying checkposts at the Line of Control (LoC). Indian officials apparently acknowledged that three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory, Reuters (archive) and New York Times (archive) reported on 7 May 2025.
According to a press release issued by the Press Information Department (PID), after Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) convened on the morning of 7 May, India also targeted the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project.
“The international media personnel had already visited these ‘imaginary terrorist camps’ on 6 May 2025 and more visits were planned for 7 May 2025,” the press release said.
After the Pahalgam incident, “Pakistan made a sincere offer for a credible, transparent and neutral investigation, which unfortunately was not accepted” by India, it added.
The NSC also authorised the armed forces “to undertake corresponding actions” following the 7 May strikes by India.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres urged both India and Pakistan to exercise military restraint, adding that “the world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”
The same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with senior federal ministers but has so far not made any public comments since the airstrikes, according to CNN.
Following India’s attack on Pakistan, multiple countries issued statements, with Russia saying it was “deeply concerned” about the escalation, China noting that it “regrets” New Delhi’s military action and urging “restraint”, the US stating that it hoped the conflict “ends very quickly”, and the UK promising that it will “stand ready” to assist in deescalating tensions between the two countries.
A surge of unverified claims and disinformation has circulated on social media since the Pahalgam terror attack, and it has spiked sharply after India launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory early Wednesday morning.
Virality
The message has circulated numerous times on WhatsApp with the tag “Forwarded many times”.
Conclusion: The Deputy Commissioner of Lahore, Syed Musa Raza, did not issue an emergency notification asking citizens to evacuate certain areas of Lahore due to “a security incident along the Wagah border”. The notification is fake.
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