Viral video of Pakistan Air Force attacking Afghanistan during current conflict

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to trace the source of the video and a keyword search to corroborate the claim.

Multiple Pakistani users on social media platform X shared a video on February 26, 2026, allegedly showing the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launching strikes in Afghanistan against the Taliban regime. However, the clip is old from the United States’ March 2003 assault on Iraq.

Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban after the neighbouring country opened fire on multiple locations across the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Feb 26.

Authorities in Kabul had called it a response to Pakistani strikes against terrorist hideouts on Afghan soil over the weekend.

HOW IT STARTED

On Feb 26, a pro-military user shared a video with the following caption: “PAF has launched huge strikes in Kabul and Kandahar targeting the Afghan Taliban.”

The post gained 98,400 views.

The official account of the PML-N also posted the same video on Facebook with the following caption: “The Pakistan Air Force has started to strike the Afghan Taliban brick by brick, the Pakistan Air Force has started its attacks, a large ammunition depot has been destroyed in Nangarhar, and major targets are being targeted.”

The post accumulated 516,000 views.

Local media outlet The Pakistan Frontier shared the same clip with a slightly different caption on Instagram, gaining 26000 views.

The same video was reshared by the former caretaker information minister of Balochistan, Jan Achakzai, with a similar caption, gaining 28,000 views.

The clip with a similar context was shared by several other users on Facebook, as can be seen here and here; on Instagram, as can be seen here and here; on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining 125000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the current conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Some comments pointed out that the video was not from the current tensions but an old one.

A reverse image search conducted to trace the source of the video yielded a Facebook post of Channel 25 TV Atlantic Coast, a local digital news outlet based in Central America, on June 17, 2025. The video in the post matched the viral video.

Comparing the two clips showed that the 1:18-minute mark of the old video matched the three-second mark of the viral clip.

The caption of the video read, “Iran has launched a new wave of missile attacks against Israel, according to the Tasnim news agency. Tensions in the region are escalating again as clashes continue. Authorities have not yet confirmed any damage or casualties.”

However, one of the comments said that it was from Iraq.

A reverse image search of the keyframes yielded a video on YouTube, titled: “Shock And Awe US Iraq War Combat Footage 1“, dated March 24, 2023.

Comparing the YouTube video with the viral clip showed they’re similar, as can be seen at the 1:43-minute mark of the old clip.

The same video was also previously posted multiple times, as can be seen here and here, with the same context.

A keyword search yielded a video by American news outlet CNN, titled “Operation Shock and Awe: Iraq, 2003”.

Comparing the videos showed the same buildings being bombed, with the skyline’s reflection in the water also being the same.

A keyword search yielded an archived CNN article, which reported that in 2003, the US and its allies launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, beginning with a massive aerial assault on Baghdad on March 21.

The “shock and awe” campaign targeted hundreds of locations across Iraq, including Mosul and Kirkuk, with the goal of swiftly dismantling Saddam Hussein’s regime.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows the Pakistan Air Force striking Afghanistan is false.

The video is old from the March 2003 US assault on Iraq.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES:

June 17, 2025, Channel 25 TV Atlantic Coast Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/CANAL25TVLAHD/videos/1008400084424162/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=tp59myoC3ns5wb8W

July 21, 2016, CNN YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yr-LaMhvro

March 24, 2023, YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhNlzZov36E

February 9, 2021, YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CowOdkKNb0A