CLAIM

Viral video of Afghan women protesters chanting slogans in support of recent Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan

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 PML-N supporters and pro-military users on social media platform X were sharing a video since February 22, 2026, allegedly showing Afghan women protesters supporting Pakistan after the recent airstrikes in Afghanistan. However, the clip shows no such thing.

Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan killed “more than 80 terrorists”, security sources said on Feb 22, in a retaliatory operation against groups responsible for recent suicide bombings in Pakistan.

Pakistan struck seven “terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Pakistani Taliban of [Fitna al Khwarij] and its affiliates and [the Islamic State-Khorasan Province] at the border region of Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced in a post on February 22.

Fitna al Khwarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

HOW IT STARTED

On February 22, a social media user, who appears to be pro-Pakistani, based on his past posts, shared a video showing the Afghan Taliban opening aerial gunfire on women protesters allegedly chanting ‘Long live Pakistan’ in support of the recent airstrikes, with the following caption: “Afghan women are getting tired of Taliban and want Pakistan to intervene. They held a protest, chanting ‘Long live Pakistan’, while the Taliban used aerial firing to disperse the crowd.”

The post gained 17,500 views.

Another pro-military account also shared the same clip on X with the following caption: “Just in: Afghan female students support Pakistani airstrikes on terror camps in Afghanistan, chanting, ’Long live Pakistan’. The Afghan Taliban opened fire on female students.”

The post garnered 33,000 views.

Another pro-military user also shared the same video with a similar caption. The post accumulated 43,000 views.

The same clip with a similar context was shared by several other users on X, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; collectively gaining more than 31,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

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

A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any such incident was reported by international or Afghan media outlets but did not yield any result.

A reverse image search was conducted to trace the source of the video, which yielded an Instagram reel shared by Afghan women’s rights activist and author Sonita Alizada on July 19, 2023. The reel matched the viral video.

The post was captioned: “Several women hairdressers in Kabul held a protest in response to the Taliban banning women’s beauty salons. The protest of these women was met with violence and suppression by the Taliban. They believed being clean is against Islam.”

Furthermore, the video shows that no protester chanted slogans in support of Pakistan, as can be heard in the viral video.

A keyword search also yielded a news report by a local Afghan digital media outlet, Jinha Agency, dated July 19, 2023, with the headline, “The gathering of female hairdressers in Kabul turned violent”.

According to the report, a large number of female hairdressers in Kabul protested the Taliban’s order to close women’s beauty salons, calling for the directive to be revoked.

It said Taliban forces dispersed the demonstration using gunfire into the air, tear gas, water cannons and physical force.

The same incident was also shared by local Afghan digital media outlet Kabul Now.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE​

The claim that a viral video shows women protesters chanting slogans in support of recent Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan is false.​

The clip is old from July 2023 and is doctored.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES

July 19, 2023, Sonita Alizada Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/reels/Cu4Zeq_tnNM/

July 19, 2023, Kabul Now news report:
https://kabulnow.com/2023/07/talibans-crackdown-of-women-protesters-condemned-by-the-un-and-human-rights-groups/

July 19, 2023, Jinha Agency news report:
https://jinhaagency.com/fa/rwzanh/tjm-znan-arayshgr-dr-kabl-b-khshwnt-kshyd-shd-39376?page=20