Claim: A photograph shows Pakistani soldier holding Baloch women and children at gunpoint inside their home.
Fact: The image is AI-manipulated and likely created using an authentic photo from 2006, taken during the Iraq war.
On 22 February 2026, X (formerly Twitter) user @jasmcv8 posted (archive) a photo showing a soldier standing in what appears to be a kitchen while pointing his gun at a group of women and children. The visual is accompanied by the following caption:
“If this is not terrorism, then what is? Baloch women held at gunpoint by Pakistani soldiers. @UN #BalochLivesMatter”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first observed that the reflection of the women and children in the cooking range — the stove and oven — does not exactly match the real-life individuals.
We then reverse-searched the photo but only found it rehashed in different social media posts. However, Google’s “About this image” tab flagged the visual as being generated using Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Subsequently, we checked if the photo contained SynthID, an imperceptible watermark embedded in all content generated by Google’s AI tools.
“Based on a technical analysis, this image was created or edited with AI tools,” concluded SynthID Detector, which currently works through Gemini in Pakistan. “Detection of a digital watermark indicates the content was generated or manipulated using Google’s AI models,” it added, with a “very high” confidence level.
Additionally, when we checked the comments under the viral post, we found that multiple X users suggested that the image was a manipulated version of an authentic photo that actually showed an American soldier checking the drawers in the kitchen.
Comparing the original image to the viral one shows differences in the soldier’s posture, overall colour tones, and the women’s clothes.
We found the original photograph on multiple websites like Rare Historical Photos, as well as news outlets such as EL PAÍS and CBS News, where it is captioned as: “A US soldier from Alfa company, 117 regiment of the 172th brigade, searches a house as women and children look on, in eastern Baghdad, Oct. 3, 2006. AP Photo/Darko Bandic”.
The photo — as well as others from the same room — are available at AP Newsroom here, here, here, and here.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the viral image is inauthentic and was manipulated using AI tools.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the image posted here, here, here, and here on X, here, here, and here on Facebook, and here on Instagram.
The photo was also shared here on TikTok, as well as on the Afghan media outlet Afghanistan International in a 3 February 2026 article (archive) with a Pashto-language headline that reads, “یونېسف په بلوچستان کې د بریدونو پر مهال د ماشومانو وژنه وغندله [UNICEF condemns killing of children during attacks in Balochistan]”.
Conclusion: The image is AI-manipulated and likely created using an authentic photo from 2006 during the Iraq war.
Background image in cover photo: Google Maps
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com