Viral image of elderly woman displaced in Bajaur as military operation looms

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 find the original source.

Posts from users on social media platform X on August 10, 2025, shared an image claiming it showed an elderly woman displaced from Bajaur amid a looming military operation in the region. However, the image is old and has been shared as far back as 2021.

Peace talks between local militant commanders and the Bajaur Amn Jirga fell through in Lowi Mamund tehsil on August 9, reigniting fear among locals about the prospective military operation.

According to reports, a number of families from 16 areas left their homes for peaceful areas in the district. The reports added that more families from the said areas were expected to leave their homes.

HOW IT STARTED

On August 10, a journalist from Bajaur shared a collage of images showing an elderly woman sitting in the open trunk of a car beside a large bundle wrapped in a cloth.

The post was captioned: “Bajaur: No transport has been arranged for displaced persons. My cameraman captured the pain and helplessness of a mother forced to relocate with her family.”

It was viewed by 7,000 users.

The image with the same claim was also shared here, here, and here, racking up 104,000, 65,000 and 13,000 views respectively.

Other shares of the same claim can be found here, here, here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the current unrest in Bajaur.

A reverse image search yielded a Facebook post from July 23, 2021, featuring the same image.

The caption, when translated from Pashto, read: “If only Kandahar were spared from bombs … ah, ah, Kandahar, burning in the flames of the Taliban’s Punjabi occupation.”

Other posts associating the image with Afghanistan can be found here, here and here.

A keyword search for “Kandahar”, “Afghanistan” and “immigration” led to news stories reporting on the Taliban takeover of Kandahar city around the same time.

On August 1, 2021, BBC reported ongoing clashes in Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar between Taliban militants and government forces in Afghanistan.

According to the report, a Kandahar lawmaker told the outlet that tens of thousands of people had already been displaced on the heels of a Taliban takeover.

On August 12, 2021, Al-Jazeera reported that the militant group claimed to have seized Kandahar following weeks of clashes.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral image shows an elderly woman displaced in Bajaur is false.

While the source of the image could not be conclusively determined, it was shared as far back as 2021, associating it with displacement in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

Evidence and References

July 23, 2021, Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/ShujaShayan/posts/1789674637860644/