Viral image of martyred female Pakistan Army doctor

RATING JUSTIFICATION

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan reviewed the image for visual inconsistencies and conducted a forensic analysis to assess its authenticity.

Multiple accounts on social media platform X, including Indian and Pakistani users, shared an image on November 27, 2025, claiming it showed a female Pakistani military doctor who was allegedly martyred in a recent attack on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. However, the photo is AI-generated.

Islamabad’s bilateral relations with Kabul have come under strain in recent times as the banned terrorist Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group remains the main point of contention between the two neighbours. During a process of dialogue, which followed border clashes between the two countries in October, the two sides had met in an effort to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability.

However, after the third round of talks, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said that talks addressing cross-border terrorism were “over” and “entered an indefinite phase” as negotiators failed to bridge big differences between the two sides.

HOW IT STARTED

On Nov 27, an X account that appears to be Indian from previous posts shared an image of a woman dressed in a Pakistani military uniform holding a rifle in her hands.

The caption of the post read: “Captain Kanwal Baig of the Pakistan Army Medical Corps was killed in an attack on the Pakistan–Afghanistan border two days ago. She was a resident of Matkiyal village in Rawalpindi.”

It garnered 28,400 views.

Another Indian X account also shared the image with the same caption, racking up 95,000 views and about 1,000 likes.

The photo, with a similar claim, was soon shared by several Indian and pro-Afghan accounts, as seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

The image was shared by Pakistani users as well, as seen here, here, here and here.

It was also circulated with a similar claim on Facebook and Instagram, as seen 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 security situation of Pakistan’s border areas.

A keyword search did not yield any local or international news reports related to the martyrdom of a female military doctor in an attack on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. A Google search of the alleged officer’s name also did not produce any statement or press release by the army’s media wing or the government.

Observing the image showed visual inconsistencies in the text that are typical of photos and videos generated through artificial intelligence.

Firstly, the text on the uniform is blurry and unclear. Furthermore, the ‘N’ of ‘KANWAL’ appears distorted while the ‘R’ of ‘ARMY’ looks like an ‘S’.

Analysing the image through forensic tools to detect any manipulation showed that Decopy flagged it as having a 100 per cent probability of being AI-generated, while HitPaw and Copyleaks also detected the photo as fake.

Contacted for further comment about the uniform seen in the photo, a retired military officer said that women are not assigned fighting arms in the Pakistani Army. Instead, they are assigned support and administrative arms.

He further stated that the uniform seen in the image is old and has not been in use since January 2025.

Furthermore, Dawn’s Rawalpindi correspondent Tahir Naseer confirmed that no such news had surfaced nor did the army issue a statement in this regard, which is a standard procedure.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral image shows a Pakistan Army officer, who was allegedly martyred in recent Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes, is false.

The image is AI-generated.