Claim: A video shows Pakistan conducting airstrikes on militant camps inside Afghanistan on 21 February 2026.
Fact: The clip is old and appeared as early as October 2025 in the context of Israeli strikes inside Lebanon.
On 22 February, an X user posted a video (archive) purportedly showing the Pakistan Army conducting airstrikes on terrorist camps inside Afghanistan. Below is the screenshot of the post:
Screenshot of the post.
The clip also appeared on X here (archive) and here (archive).
Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, targeting militant hideouts on 21 February 2026, according to Dawn. The strikes were in response to a series of suicide bombings in Pakistan — which the country blames on militants operating from the neighboring country— according to an X post by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Afghan authorities, cited by publications, acknowledged the attacks and stated that civilians, including women and children, were among the dead. Sources quoted by Dawn and Reuters claimed that at least 70 terrorists had been killed in the attack.
The airstrikes reportedly targeted regions in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in Afghanistan.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found that it is unrelated to the Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan on 21 February 2026.
An X user posted the same video (archive) on 16 October 2025 with the following caption:
“New footage shows intense Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon hitting reconstruction sites — an asphalt plant, quarry, concrete facility, and fuel tanks. The assault follows earlier raids that destroyed over 300 bulldozers and vehicles, as Israel continues efforts to strip the area of infrastructure.”
Matching keyframes from both clips are shown below:
On the left is the video being fact-checked, which matches the one on the right from October 2025.
The same video was also posted multiple times on X and Instagram on 16 October and 17 October 2025 (archive), with captions sharing it in the context of Israeli strikes inside Lebanon.
A Facebook user posted the exact video on 17 October 2025 (archive).
On Reddit, the footage was also shared on 16 October 2025 and 17 October 2025.
Anadolu Agency’s article “1 killed, 7 injured as Israeli warplanes launch 12 airstrikes in Lebanon despite ceasefire” from 16 October 2025 carries a cover photo that matches a scene from the video being fact-checked as shown below:
On the left is the clip being factchecked which matches the cover photo by Anadolu Agency.
The Express Tribune also published a similar cover photo in its article [“Israeli jets attack Lebanon in 12 strikes, defying ceasefire”], crediting the image to “Anadolu” on 17 October 2025.
Soch Fact Check via reverse searches found another publication that published a similar image on 16 October 2025 in its article titled [translated from Turkish in English through Google Translate]: “Israel violated the ceasefire: It is bombing Lebanon.”
Another Turkish online platform also published a montage of various clips on 16 October 2025 in its article, “Israel launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon.” From the montage, scenes from 1:50 to 2:10 match the footage being fact-checked, confirming the video is old.
Israel conducted airstrikes inside Lebanon at the time in breach of the ceasefire negotiated between the two sides in 2024.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim as false.
Virality
The video was posted on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here (1st video), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Facebook, it appeared here, here (1st video), here, here, and here.
The video appeared on Instagram here and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show Pakistan conducting airstrikes inside Afghanistan on 21 February 2026. The clip appeared online as early as October 2025, with social media captions and articles linking it to Israeli strikes inside Lebanon.
Background image in cover photo: Anadolu Agency
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