Claim: Viral videos show the PTI’s Long March.
Fact: The footage dates back to 2023 when protests took place near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border..
On 4 October 2026, journalist Sami Abraham posted a video on X claiming to show a huge crowd alleged to be from the current PTI Long March. There was an Urdu caption with the video stated below:
یہ کیا ھے ۔۔انکا مقابلہ کون کرے گا ۔۔وقت ھے ابھی بھی طاقت کے نشے سے باہر نکل آو ۔۔
[Translation: “What is this? Who will compete with them? It’s still time to snap out of the intoxication of power.”]
Screenshot from Viral X post.
PTI’s Long March
On 25 September 2026, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced the postponement of their long-planned nationwide protest until 4 October. The protest, which was originally set to take place on 27 September, demands the release of party founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan from prison.
In response to the original announcement, the government took major steps to restrict the scheduled protest, which have been considered disruptive and mishandled by some commentators and citizens.
Most notably, there was a wave of preventive arrests targeting PTI organisers and associated figures, including Khan’s sisters. Amnesty International termed these arrests a “flagrant violation of human rights.”
Representatives from the federal government and the PTI met to discuss an alternate way forward on 2 and 3 October. However, the talks ended in a deadlock.
On 4 October, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi launched the Long March from southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
From 5 and 6 October 2026, the March progressed through the outskirts of Peshawar. On 7 October 2026, the Long March travelled through Kohat, Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel. By 8 October 2026, the rally had reached Attock and Khairabad borders, which led borders to block entryways to Islamabad. The intended route for the march was reportedly changed several times since it was launched.
Federal authorities have intensified their defensive posture around Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Section 144 has been in Islamabad and Punjab.
A livestream of the procession is available on PTI’s X account.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-image searched keyframes from the first 38 seconds of the video, which led to several social media posts from 26 and 27 October 2023.
The video was also posted to YouTube by a number of news outlets in 2023. Aaj News’ video title reads, “Thousands take to the streets in Chaman” and Daily Qudrat’s video is titled, “Pak-Afghan Chaman border, 100K of people came out of their homes, large protest rally.” Other news outlets also reported on these protests, which had taken place near the border in Chaman, due to the Pakistan government imposing a ban on the border, and the strict “one-document regime.”
Both videos show the same frame that is being fact-checked, proving the footage is in fact from Chaman 2023.
Screenshot of Aaj News coverage of Chaman protests in 2023.
For further verification, we reached out to Anwar Ali, an independent journalist covering the PTI Long march, and confirmed stating “This is not from the current PTI long march taking place, it is Chaman 2022.”
Soch Fact Check concludes the video being fact-checked was taken at a protest in Chaman two years ago, and does not show the PTI’s ongoing Long March.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the viral clip on Facebook, X and Instagram, garnering views in thousands in all social media platforms.
On X, the post being fact-checked saw the most views, which hit upto 732.2K views.
The highest interaction seen by a reel on Facebook was 367K views and 27K likes.
Conclusion: This claim is false.Soch Fact Check found that the video does not show the PTI long march in October 2026; it instead dates back to protests held in Chaman in 2023.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com