Claim: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has issued a statement titled “Bajaur clashes: losses of the mujahideen and an appeal to the public,” in which it admits losses and appeals to locals to provide its fighters a safe passage.
Fact: The statement is not authentic and was likely created using Meta AI.
On 29 July 2025, multiple social media accounts shared a statement allegedly issued by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — also known as the Pakistani Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij — titled “Bajaur clashes: losses of the mujahideen and an appeal to the public.” The posts are archived here, here, here, and here.
The statement in question reads as follows:
“تحریک طالبان کے جنگی دستے باجوڑ کے پہاڑی علاقوں میں شدید دباؤ اور نقصان کا سامنا کر رہے ہیں۔ سیکیورٹی فورسز کے ساتھ جاری جھڑپوں میں ہمارے کئی ساتھی مجاہدین مارے جا چکے ہیں، اور کئی شدید زخمی حالت میں ہیں جن میں ہمارے اہم کمانڈرز بھی شامل ہیں۔
[The Tehreek-e-Taliban’s [TTP] combat troops are facing severe pressure and losses in the mountainous areas of Bajaur. In the ongoing clashes with the security forces, many of our fellow mujahideen have been killed and several, including our key commanders, are seriously injured.]”
“ہم مقامی عوام سے اپیل کرتے ہیں کہ وہ ہمارے دستوں کے لئے محفوظ راستہ فراہم کرنے میں بھر پور مدد کریں تاکہ مجاہدین اس محاصرے سے بحفاظت نکل سکیں۔ ہم عوام کی اس تعاون پر شکر گزار رہیں گے
[We appeal to the local people to fully support in providing safe passage for our troops so that the mujahideen can safely escape this siege. We will remain grateful for this cooperation from the people.]”
“سرزمین باجوڑ کی غیور عوام سے مزید گزارش کرتے ہیں کہ وہ اس لڑائی سے دور رہیں اور سیکیورٹی فورسز کا ساتھ نہ دیں۔ یہ جنگ ہمارے اور ریاست کے درمیان ہے، اس میں شامل ہو کر عوام اپنی جان کو خطرے میں نہ ڈالیں۔ ہم نہیں چاہتے کہ بے گناہ مقامی لوگ اس جھڑپ کا حصہ بنیں یا اس کا نشانہ بنیں۔
[We further appeal to the self-respecting people of Bajaur to stay away from this fight and not support the security forces. This war is between us and the state; the people should not risk their lives by joining it. We do not want innocent local people to be a part of this clash or its target.]”
Operation Sarbakaf in Bajaur
In late July 2025, Pakistani security forces launched Operation Sarbakaf, deploying army troops and using gunship helicopters and artillery to target militants in the Bajaur district, which borders Afghanistan.
A three-day curfew was imposed across 16 villages from 29 to 31 July. “At least four suspected terrorists were killed, 12 wounded, and around 10 others were captured alive”, reports citing security sources said.
“At least 7 Pakistani Taliban affiliates have been killed and 11 critically injured”, The Khorasan Diary said in a 29 July update, citing security sources. The latest operation comes following an attack on the Thangi checkpost in Bajaur.
Terror attacks in Bajaur “have increased in recent months”, Anadolu Agency reported earlier in July 2025. On 10 July, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Maulana Khan Zeb and two others were shot dead. Prior to that, Khar Assistant Commissioner Faisal Ismail was killed on 2 July in a bomb blast.
On 13 July, the “Bajaur Aman Pasoon,” or the Bajaur Peace Rally, attracted thousands of people “carrying white flags and white banners inscribed with various slogans in support of peace”. Participants raised concerns about and condemned “lawlessness and targeted killings”.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government — led by the incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — has opposed the operation. Gul Zafar Khan, a former lawmaker associated with the party, alleged that it was “being used as an excuse, perhaps to seize our mineral resources”.
ANP President Aimal Wali Khan also criticised the operation, claiming that innocent people were killed and calling on the violence to stop.
Similarly, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) stated that it could not extend support, with its spokesperson Aslam Ghauri saying common people were affected and issues “were neither resolved through force in the past nor will they be in the future”.
Condemning the latest action, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) leader Mushtaq Ahmad asserted in a statement that Operation Sarbakaf “was started by bypassing the provincial assembly, federal parliament, local jirgas, and elders”.
According to Voicepk.net, “a 12-year-old boy and a young girl” were among three civilians who were reportedly killed and “12 others were injured”. Residents launched a protest against the military operation, it added.
As of writing time, a “conditional” ceasefire has been agreed to between a jirga — an assembly of community elders — in Bajaur and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders “until the conflict was completely resolved through talks”, Dawn reported.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check observed many inconsistencies in the TTP’s purported statement.
Firstly, it is very unlikely for the banned outfit to express hopelessness publicly nor would it admit that its “key commanders” are wounded. It also usually refers to the Pakistan Army as just “army” and sometimes as the “Royal Indian Army,” not “security forces,” as evidenced in its authentic statement here.
The TTP is also unlikely to use words like “killed” for their fighters; rather, it usually writes “martyred”, as evidenced here. It also commonly claims that it does not harm civilians; therefore, it would be against its own assertions to ask locals for help as it has in the statement in question.
We also noticed a faint logo of Meta AI on the bottom-right corner of the statement, further confirming the argument that it was likely generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Additionally, the watermark in the background of the main body of text is in a different font than the one officially used by the TTP — which can be seen in the golden header at the top in the authentic statements. Similarly, the background colour of the subject, “باجوڑ جھڑ ہیں: مجاہدین کے نقصانات اور عوام سے اپیل,” has a pinkish hue, indicating smudging or editing.
The top red circle shows the pinkish hue behind the title of the statement, the red circle on the left shows the missing full stop, the arrow on the right shows the watermark in the background of the main body of text, and the red circle on the bottom-right corner shows the faint Meta AI logo.
Interestingly, the reference number of the TTP’s latest press release — “67/18-TTP-MDK_2025” — is mentioned in the viral document, further indicating that the latter was forged. The second paragraph is also missing a full stop, which is commonly denoted by a lowered dash in the Urdu script, at the end.
Soch Fact Check spoke to The Khorasan Diary News Director Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, a journalist who extensively covers security issues in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He confirmed that the letter was “fake”.
We also reached out to Riccardo Valle, a research analyst on jihadist movements and The Khorasan Diary’s Research Director. He said the fake statement does feature the template of the TTP’s media production center, Umar Media, and matches the overall basic language due to its content but “there are a number of indicators that demonstrate that the statement is indeed fake”.
He confirmed our observation about the group not openly acknowledging its losses. “It is unusual for the TTP to admit widespread casualties without providing details to inflicted casualties among security forces, as this would weaken the image of the group,” he said.
“Secondly, while the appeal to the public resembles the TTP one, the TTP would not request civilians for help as this is a breach of their own military guidelines that will result in consequences both for local militants as well as for the public image of TTP.
“Finally, the TTP has the tendency to slander security forces, specifically in situations like this [Bajaur operation] when [the] local population is exposed to clashes between security forces and militants. The original statement criticises security forces for being ‘cowards’; this is a tactic by the TTP to put all the blame for civilian casualties on security forces. The fake statement does not feature this wording, which you would expect by the TTP in such messages,” Valle noted.
The analyst explained that statements by the TTP’s centralised Umar Media are issued “mostly on WhatsApp and Telegram through a number of dedicated channels, bots, and users who have been sanctioned by [the] TTP’s so-called ministry of information and by [the] Umar Media social media team”. After that, such content is shared ahead by the group’s affiliates and social media influencers who spread it on other social media platforms.
“In case of forgeries and fake statements, Umar Media maintains a social media cell that has the specific task to counter such fake news in [a] very short time,” Valle told Soch Fact Check.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, and here on Facebook. It was also shared here, here, and here on Instagram.
The document was posted here and here on X (formerly Twitter).
Conclusion: The statement is not authentic and was likely created using Meta AI.
Background image in cover photo: Wikimedia Commons via Al Jazeera English
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