Civilians attack military in KP’s Kurram Agency after announcement of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam

Rating Justification

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

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the video by conducting a reverse image search and tracing it back to a prior instance.

Multiple posts circulating on social media since June 24, 2024, shared a video of an alleged attack by civilians on the military in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram Agency, claiming that it was related to the announcement of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, a new counter-terrorism campaign. However, the video is old and was shared at least as far back as 2020.

On June 22, the federal government approved Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, a revitalised national counter-terrorism campaign as part of a renewed commitment to eradicating extremism and terrorism. The opposition criticised the announcement and called on the military to take Parliament into confidence before any such venture.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 24, 2024, an X user, appearing to be a PTI supporter from his past posts, shared a video with the caption: “The first result of a military operation. The people attacked the army in Kurram Agency. Trained soldiers managed to escape!”

The video, showing a large mob chasing security personnel on the road, received close to 340,000 views on X.

The video was also shared here, here, here and here with over a combined 73,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the matter since it pertained to the newly announced Operation Azm-i-Istehkam.

The video was investigated by conducting a reverse image search on multiple screenshots which showed that the same video was posted as far back as July 24, 2020, by an Indian X account.

The account claimed that the video was from Parachinar and allegedly showed the frustration of locals who attacked the military after at least 17 people were injured in an explosion on July 23, 2020.

It was not determined if the Indian account was accurate or whether its post caption truly showed what was happening in the video or if it was indeed from Parachinar.

FACT-CHECK: FALSE

The claim regarding a video showing an attack on the army by civilians in Kurram Agency after the announcement of Operation Azm-i-Istehkam is false.

The video was shared at least as far back as July 2020 and is entirely unrelated to any and all present developments.

Evidence and References

July 24, 2020, X post from Indian account:
https://perma.cc/FN93-PJQV