Claim: A video shows clashes between security forces and protesters in Pakistan in February 2026.
Fact: The clip is unrelated as it appeared online as early as October 2025.
An Instagram user posted a video on 8 February (archive) purportedly showing recent clashes between security forces and protesters in Quetta, Balochistan.
Another X user claimed (archive) that it showed “ongoing tension and violence” in Pakistan between protesters and security forces.
One user linked it to the Sindh police, apparently fleeing clashes.
On 8 February, opposition alliance Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) held protests in various cities over allegations of discrepancies in the 2024 general elections in Pakistan.
A shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was also observed in Quetta with ensuing clashes between the police and protesters.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found that it is old and unrelated to any recent protests or clashes in Pakistan.
On 1 October 2025, an Instagram account posted two clips (archive)—one and three in the carousel—which match the video being fact-checked as shown in the visual below.
Left: Post linking the clip to protests in February 2026. Right: Instagram clip from October 2025.
The description of the post reads: “PoJK is on fire with massive Gen Z protests!
Young demonstrators are fearlessly challenging the Pakistan Army and police, throwing containers blocking streets straight into rivers. Despite internet blackouts and heavy deployments from Islamabad, the resistance is only growing stronger.
The situation remains tense as the youth continue to demand freedom and justice. ”
Text embedded in the first footage also states the same.
A TikTok user also posted the same clip (archive) on 1 October 2025, linking it to Kashmir like the Instagram post.
Reverse searches also yielded articles from October 2025 by Indian news outlets that linked the incident to “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”. Lokmat News’ article from 3 October 2025 carries a cover photo that matches a keyframe from the video being fact-checked. It is titled [translated via Google Translate into English]: “Amid growing protests and unrest in PoK, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that Pakistan should be held responsible.”
On the left is the clip circulating online that matches the cover photo carried by Lokmat News from October 2025.
Another Indian publication’s (now-deleted) article from 1 October 2025 also carries a similar cover photo, linking it to the September protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
On 29 September 2025, the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), a civil society alliance, held a strike after talks with the government on elite privileges and electoral reform broke down in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
At the time, the Joint Awami Action Committee held demonstrations (archive) over the issue of its unfulfilled demands. “Violence in Muzaffarabad first erupted Monday, when rival marches by the Action Committee and the pro-government Muslim Conference converged at Neelum Bridge”, according to The New York Times. The publication added that “Police officers fired tear gas and swung batons as protesters hurled stones and raised barricades. Each side accused the other of firing live rounds.”
The protests turned violent and clashes soon erupted between the police and demonstrators, killing nine people, including three police personnel, and leaving approximately one hundred injured, according to some estimates.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video is unrelated to any recent protests from February 2026 and rates the claim as false.
Virality
The clip was shared on X here, here, here, here.
On Facebook here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The video also appeared on Instagram here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show clashes between the police and protesters in Pakistan in February 2026. It appeared online as early as October 2025, with social media posts and Indian news outlets linking it to clashes in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Background image in cover photo: Anadolu Agency
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com