Viral video shows PAF fighter jet taking off amid tensions with India and Afghanistan

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to trace the original video.

Multiple users in posts on social media platform X were sharing a video since October 29, 2025, claiming it shows a Pakistan Air Force fighter jet taking off amid rising tensions with India and Afghanistan. However, the video is actually from April 2025, and is unrelated to the current situation between the three countries.

The hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan began earlier this month when Kabul launched an attack on this side of the border on Oct 11. The attack had followed an allegation from the Taliban of airstrikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan — an accusation which Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied.

The initial skirmish was followed by cross-border firing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Meanwhile, strikes by Islamabad also targeted Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan.

Eventually, the two sides came together for dialogue in Doha, which resulted in a temporary ceasefire, as well as a commitment to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability. Last week, the second round of talks, mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, began in the Turkish capital.

However, in an announcement on Oct 29, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the latest round of talks between Islamabad and Kabul “failed to bring about any workable solution”. Soon after, the defence minister also warned the Taliban regime that Islamabad would strike “deep into Afghanistan” if Afghan soil was used to launch terror attacks on Pakistan.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads after the neighbours stepped back from war earlier in May. Threats by Indian officials have since continued sporadically, to which Islamabad has responded sternly. Amid these tensions, India had announced that it would reopen its embassy in Kabu,l that was shut four years ago.

New Delhi has also expressed its “commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Afghanistan”.

HOW IT STARTED

On October 29, 2025, a post was shared on X by a pro-military account, based on its past posts and username, claiming to show PAF fighter jets taking off.

The caption read: “Pakistan India Afghan War Alert. Big News, Big Flight. Ten fighter jets have taken off from Sargodha Air Base. Long Live Pakistan Army, Long Live Pakistan Forever.” It also included the hashtags #PakistanArmy and #PakistanZindabad.

The post garnered over 22,700 views.

The same video was also shared by Abdullah Gul, son of retired Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, with the caption:

“Is something big about to happen? Pakistan has closed its airspace, and now India has issued an emergency NOTAM to close the airspace of dozens of its important states. This is an extremely unusual situation. Pray for the Shaheens.”

His post received more than 153,000 views.

Other users on X also circulated the same video with similar claims, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Additionally, the clip was reshared by a pro-military account with the caption: “When you speak, let it sound like the roar of a lion.”

That post accumulated over 33,000 views, while other similar posts collectively gained more than 22,000 views on the platform as can be seen 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 matter amid continuing tensions in the region.

A keyword search to check whether any such incident took place did not yield any news reports from local or international media outlets or any video bulletins from domestic news outlets covering the clip amid the current tensions.

To investigate the viral video, a reverse image search was conducted, which led to an X post shared by journalist Gharida Farooqi on April 25, 2025, with the caption: “Armed Forces of Pakistan are alert, ready, well prepared and well equipped. India will lose badly and severely.”

The same video was also posted by a pro-military account on Instagram on April 24, 2025.

A keyword search for media reports from around the same date yielded articles on the Pahalgam attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir, when militants targeted and killed 26 civilians on April 22. The incident ramped up tensions in South Asia after India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which subsequently turned into a full-blown conflict.

The keyword search results also yielded another news report from April 28 by The Nation titled “PAF starts high-intensity air warfare drill”. It stated that the PAF conducted Exercise Zarb-e-Haideri, a three-day high-intensity air warfare drill under the Southern Air Command.

Additionally, it was found that the widely circulated video was previously also shared on October 11 and 12, 2025, by X users in the context of Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions.

While the exact context of the video could not be verified, it is confirmed that the footage is not related to the recent regional tensions.

FACT-CHECK TITLE: MISLEADING

The claim that the viral video shows a PAF fighter jet taking off amid tensions with India and Afghanistan is misleading.

The video is old, having been shared as far back as April 2025 amid tensions that erupted between Pakistan and India after the Pahalgam attack.

Evidence and References

Gharida Farooqi, X post, April 25: https://archive.ph/3wh4D

Instagram post, April 24: https://archive.ph/JHIRs

The Nation, April 28: https://www.nation.com.pk/28-Apr-2025/paf-starts-high-intensity-air-warfare-drill

X post, Oct 11: https://archive.ph/1Rr5H

X post, Oct 12: https://archive.ph/eeUqo