Claim: A video shows Pakistani checkposts in flames after they were attacked by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC). This occurred amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Fact: The video shows supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protesting against Imran Khan’s detention in May 2023, unrelated to the ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India.
On 27 April, an X user posted a video (archive) claiming it allegedly shows Pakistani checkposts under attack along the Line of Control (LoC), a 450-mile military line “slicing the disputed Indian and Pakistani governed parts of Kashmir into two.” The video shows some people wearing masks, recording the rising smoke from the area with their phones, and moving away.
The post can be seen below:
The post suggests that the video is associated with the recent clashes between India and Pakistan along the LoC, following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. According to Indian officials quoted by Al Jazeera and the Associated Press, the Pakistani side initiated firing along the border. The exchange continued for the fourth day, Reuters reported on 28 April.
Militants attack tourists in Pahalgam, India
Gunmen killed at least 26 people at a resort in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April.
The attack took place in the Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist destination, 5km from the resort town of Pahalgam.
The Resistance Front (TRF), up till now an obscure armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Soch Fact Check has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of this claim. TRF is a proxy group of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), according to the Indian officials quoted by The New York Times (archive) and mentioned by Al Jazeera.
Following the attack, the Indian government blamed Pakistan for the massacre. This allegation is part of a wider pattern of India accusing Pakistan of fostering and supporting militants behind attacks like the one in Pahalgam. In 2019, India blamed Pakistan for a deadly suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian soldiers in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Soon after, India downgraded its diplomatic relations with Pakistan by expelling the latter’s military advisers from the country’s New Delhi mission and closing a key land border crossing. In a major move, it suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a water-sharing agreement brokered by the World Bank in the 1960s that governs the sharing of the Indus River system, a lifeline for Pakistani agriculture.
The Indian government also cancelled the visa exemption scheme for Pakistanis, preventing them from entering the country, and Pakistani nationals in India under this scheme were required to leave within 48 hours of the announcement. Furthermore, the country also announced reducing its diplomatic staff in Pakistan as a retaliatory measure.
According to the NYT, Pakistan has “struck a measured tone” in response to India’s retaliatory measures. At a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), Pakistan’s top security body on 24 April, Pakistan decided to suspend trade with its neighbour, cancel the visa scheme for Indian nationals, and “announced the closure of its airspace to all India-owned or Indian-operated airlines with immediate effect.” NSC further warned that “any Indian attempt to stop or divert flow of water under Indus Waters Treaty would be ‘act of war’.”
On 26 April, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was “open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation” into the terror attack.
Fact or Fiction?
Reverse-searching keyframes from the video reveals that it is unrelated to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan along the LoC.
On 11 May 2023, an X user posted a video (archive) with the caption:
“Nation stands with Pakistan #Enough_is_Enough #banpti.” This video matches the footage from the claim, confirming that it predates the recent clashes between the neighbouring countries.
An X handle of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a party led by Imran Khan, also posted a video (archive) on 11 May 2023. The description alongside the video reads: “Heavy shelling at Kashmir Highway as protesters number is increasing. It’s time for people of Pakistan to come out and defend Pakistan. #ReleaseImranKhan”.
This footage from PTI matches the video in the claim, confirming that it is from two years ago and unrelated to the rising tensions between the two countries.
At that time, PTI supporters demonstrated against the detention of Imran Khan, who was arrested on corruption charges. Khan was temporarily released, only to be rearrested in August 2023, and has remained in jail ever since.
Therefore, the footage in the claim has been falsely linked to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.
Virality
The video was shared on X here, here, here, and here.
On Instagram here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show Pakistani army checkposts under attack by the Indian Army along the border. The clip actually dates back to May 2023 when supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protested Imran Khan’s detention.
Background image in cover photo: Times Now
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