Internet towers torn down in AJK protests

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and established that it is false.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the viral images.

HOW IT STARTED

On May 12, 2024, an X user, who appeared to be a PTI supporter based on his past posts, shared a post with a collage of two images showing a broken solar panel and torn down tower.

The caption said, “Kashmiris are tearing down mobile towers now. Kashmiris say that when we cannot be provided with internet service in this difficult time, we don’t even need these poles of yours.”

The post gained more than 52,000 views.

Another X user, who appeared to be a PTI supporter based on their past posts, shared these images with the caption “Mobile service stopped in Kashmir. The others brought down the tower.”

The post garnered 3,600 plus views.

The images were also featured in a report by an Indian Urdu news outlet, News Intervention, on May 14, with the headline: “Mirpur: Campaign to tear down towers starts after the suspension of internet”.

The images were also shared here and here.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and because of the tensions in Azad Jammu and Kashmir since May 10 that saw violent clashes as well.

The team did a reverse image search for the image of the uprooted tower and found several news articles that used the image from 2023.

The earliest mention of these photos was on the news site Balochwarna News in an April 16, 2022, story titled: “Balochistan: Mobile tower blown up in Barkhan”.

The report said that a telecommunication tower was blown up in Balochistan’s Barkhan region and used the image of the uprooted tower. However, it did not provide a source for the image.

A further search for the image led to a June 4, 2022, article from news outlet Quetta Voice which used the picture. Notably, the caption it gave to the image said: “File photo of a mobile tower blown up in Balochistan’s Kohlu district: Photo Yousaf Marri”.

Narrowing the search further with the addition of “Kohlu” and “Yousaf Marri” led to an April 16, 2022, article by the same person for the Quetta Voice titled: “Mobile tower blown up in Kohlu district”.

Marri took the picture himself and the corresponding report said it showed a mobile tower blown up in Balochistan’s Kohlu district.

As for the second image of the destroyed solar panel, a reverse image search for it led to an April 19, 2023, news report by Indian wire news agency ANI titled: “Balochistan Liberation Army sets fire to 6 Chinese mobile towers on CPEC”.

ANI seemed to be source of the image which it said showed a burnt mobile tower in Balochistan.

The corresponding report said that the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed to have torched six mobile phone towers in Kech district.

Interestingly, the ANI report also used the image of the uprooted tower without mentioning its source.

AJK PROTESTS

According to a Dawn.com report, a strike call was given by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee for May 10, 2024, after several of its leaders and activists were arrested by police in overnight raids in different parts of Muzaffarabad and Mirpur divisions.

Violent clashes subsequently erupted in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on May 11 the following protests demanding electricity at hydropower rates, subsidized flour, and an end to elite privileges.

Despite government concessions, tensions persisted, resulting in clashes and casualties with one police officer and three protesters killed. The situation was eventually calmed down as the protest movement was called off while the government reassured that it would address the issues of the region’s people.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim regarding images of internet towers torn down and destroyed during AJK protests is false.

The images being shared are from separate incidents in Balochistan at different points in time and not from the scenes witnessed during the AJK protests.

Evidence and References

April 16, 2022, Quetta Voice report:
https://www.quettavoice.com/2022/04/16/mobile-tower-blown-up-in-kohlu-district

April 19, 2023, ANI report:
https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/balochistan-liberation-army-sets-fire-to-6-chinese-mobile-towers-on-cpec20230419161508/