Viral video of Pakistani tanks in use against Afghan forces in recent fighting

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 pro-military users on social media platforms since October 2, 2025, were sharing a video claiming to show Pakistani tanks in action against Afghan forces in the recent fighting between the two countries. However, the video is old from November 2022 and is unrelated to the current clashes.

Intense border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan started late on the night of Oct 11 and continued into the next morning. The Inter-Services Public Relations said that 23 troops were martyred and 200 Taliban and affiliated terrorists were killed when Islamabad responded to aggression by Kabul.

HOW IT STARTED

On Oct 12, a video was shared on X by a pro-military account claiming to show Pakistani tanks in action against Afghan forces during recent fighting.

The caption of the post said: “Baramcha sector: Afghan posts have been engaged by Pakistan’s armour fire; main battle tanks are now in action.”

The post garnered over 122,000 views.

Another pro-military account also shared the video with a similar claim, gaining over 31,000 views.

ARY News also shared the same footage on its official Instagram account with the caption: “Pakistan’s use of artillery, tanks, light and heavy weapons — security sources.”

The post received over 8,000 likes.

Several other Instagram accounts circulated the same video with similar claims, gaining over8,400 and 2,300 likes, respectively.

The clip also appeared on TikTok, where multiple users shared it with similar claims, as seen here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the Pakistan-Afghanistan cross-border situation.

A reverse image search yielded a YouTube video uploaded by a channel named “19-Kilo” on November 27, 2022, titled “Abrams Night Fire”.

The footage is identical to the viral clip, showing a tank firing at night with a bright muzzle flash and plume of smoke illuminating the surroundings.

Comments under the original YouTube video from the channel owner said the video was from Fort Knox, a United States Army installation located in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown.

Furthermore, the M1 Abrams tank is not used by the Pakistan Army with the Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank (MBT) forming the backbone of the military’s Armoured Corps.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that the viral video shows Pakistani tanks in action against Afghan forces in recent fighting is false.

The video dates back to November 2022 and is unrelated to the recent fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Evidence and References

Nov 27, 2022, YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rd7onehIDQ

Nov 10, 2015, Dawn news report:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1217909