False
Fact-Checked
- 29.12.2025
President Zardari did not say Pakistan Army hid in bunkers during May 2025 conflict with India
CLAIM
Viral video of President Zardari allegedly saying Pakistan Army personnel hid in bunkers during May 2025 conflict with India
RATING JUSTIFICATION
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.
To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan reviewed the viral clip and its audio and subtitles while corroborating with the original video.
Multiple Indian accounts and users across social media platforms shared a clip on December 27, 2025, alleging it showed President Asif Ali Zardari saying Pakistan Army personnel hid inside bunkers during the Pakistan-India conflict in May 2025. However, the president said no such thing.
Tensions between India and Pakistan had flared in April 2025 when a deadly terror attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir was blamed on Islamabad, which denied the accusations. The two sides exchanged a series of tit-for-tat blows, culminating in a ceasefire declaration by United States President Donald Trump in May.
The PPP marked the 18th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Dec 27. President Zardari also spoke at the occasion.
HOW IT STARTED
On Dec 27, an X account, which appears to be anti-state, posted a video of President Zardari speaking at the Garhi Khuda Bakhsh function with the following caption: “Pakistan‘s President Asif Ali Zardari aka Zarwari admitted in a public gathering that his military was hiding in the bunkers and advised him to hide inside the bunkers. Reply to India Prime Minister Modi‘s remarks, ‘Roti khau warna goli tho hai he’ (Eat bread otherwise there is the bullet), he threatened that ‘Tum kya goli marogy goli tho hum marengy’ (You will be the one to shoot the bullet? No it will be us). It seems Pakistan wants Operation Sindoor 2.0 in 2026.“
The post gained over 100,000 views.
The same clip and claim were soon shared by other Indian propaganda accounts, collectively gaining 165,000 views.
The video was shared on LinkedIn, Instagram and Reddit too with similar claims.
METHODOLOGY
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
Checking the attached portion of President Zardari’s speech showed that he did not make any comment about the military hiding in bunkers as was being attributed to him.
The relevant portion of the transcript is provided below:
“He came and told me that the war had started. By the way, I had told him four days ago that there was going to be a war, but he came and told me that the war had started. He said: ‘Sir, go to the bunker.’ I said if martyrdom has come, it will come here. Leaders don’t die in bunkers. Leaders die in the field. They don’t die here, sitting in bunkers.”
A reverse image search yielded the complete video of the president’s speech uploaded on the YouTube channel of media outlet HUM News on Dec 27, 2025.
Checking the complete speech also confirmed that the president never mentioned anything about the Pakistani military hiding inside bunkers. In the speech, President Zardari said that he was asked by a staff member to hide in a bunker during the conflict.
Moreover, a keyword search did not yield any news reports from credible mainstream media outlets that quoted the president as saying that the Pakistani military hid in bunkers during the war with India.
FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE
The claim that a viral video shows President Zardari saying that the Pakistani military was hiding in bunkers during the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025 is false.
The president never said any such thing. He said he was advised to take refuge in a bunker but had refused to do so.
EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES
December 27, 2025, HUM News YouTube video: