False
Fact-Checked
- 22.12.2025
Viral video does not show crying infant of martyred Pakhtun cop; clip is from Syria
CLAIM
Viral video shows one-year-old daughter of martyred Pakhtun policeman crying ‘papa’
RATING JUSTIFICATIONS
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.
To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search and a keyword search to trace the original source.
Multiple accounts, including pro-military and pro-state users, on social media platform X were sharing a clip since December 21, 2025, claiming that it showed the year-old daughter of a martyred Pakhtun police officer crying “papa” in front of her father’s body. However, the clip is old and actually shows a Syrian girl bidding farewell to her father, who was killed in a militant attack.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terror activities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The spike in incidents followed the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ending a ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowing to attack security forces, police, and personnel of law enforcement agencies.
Data shows that attacks on police personnel have increased by 56 per cent during the first 11 months of 2025 as compared to the corresponding period of 2024. Till Dec 1, 2025, 137 KP police personnel were martyred while 236 were injured in 510 incidents whereas in the same period of 2024, 147 personnel were martyred in 327 attacks.
HOW IT STARTED
On Dec 21, an X user, who claims to be a journalist per his bio, posted a video which showed an infant crying “papa” over a man’s body with the following caption: “This message of innocent daughter of a martyred police officer at the hands of Fitna al-Khawarij/TTP must be remembered and his blood must be avenged by this state, government, LEAs (law enforcement agencies) and the nation.”
The post gained 26,200 views.
A pro-military account also shared the same video with a similar caption, gaining over 21,000 views.
The clip and the claim were soon picked up and shared by other pro-military accounts on X, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining over 39,000 views.
The posts did not mention when and where the alleged clip was.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in issues pertaining to the country’s security and terror situation.
A reverse image search yielded a Facebook post dated Dec 17, 2025, wherein the same video was shared with the caption: “One of the most heartbreaking farewells in the world is a child’s goodbye to a father taken by treachery in Maaret al-Numan”.
As per the clip, the child seen in the video was Syrian. She was crying out before the coffin of her father, who was martyred in the city of Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib. The video was also shared by other Syrian accounts on Facebook, as can be seen here and here.
A keyword search was subsequently conducted to corroborate the alleged incident and yielded an X video shared by the English version of Arabic e-paper Al-Estiklal on the same date.
The post was captioned: “An emotional moment in Syria: a young girl bids farewell to her father, killed in an ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) attack in Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib.”
Additionally, no other prior shares of the video were found in any different context than the Syrian posts.
Several other Syrian media outlets, such as SANA, North Press Agency, and Welat TV, also covered the terror incident in the same context in news reports dated Dec 15, 2025.
According to the reports, ISIS admitted to carrying out an armed ambush on Dec 14, 2025, targeting a Syrian transitional government security patrol on the Maaret al-Numan road in southern Idlib, killing four members of the Internal Security Forces and wounding another.
FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE
The claim that a viral video shows the crying year-old daughter of a martyred Pakhtun police officer is false.
The video shows a Syrian child crying over the body of her father, who was killed in an ISIS attack in Maaret al-Numan, south of Idlib.
EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES
Dec 17, 2025, Facebook video:
Dec 17, 2025, Al-Estiklal X post:
Dec 15, SANA news report:
https://sana.sy/en/local/2283664/
Dec 15, North Press Agency news report:
https://npasyria.com/en/133273/
Dec 15, 2025, Welat TV news report: