CLAIM

Viral video of Al-Qaeda/TTP member expressing support for Israel over Iran

RATING JUSTIFICATION

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan carried out a forensic analysis to authenticate the clip.

Multiple users on social media platforms X, Facebook, and Instagram were sharing an alleged video of a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)/Al-Qaeda member on March 1, 2026, showing him expressing support for Israel over Iran. However, the clip is AI-generated.

The US and Israel launched an attack of unprecedented scale against Iran on March 1, 2026, targeting its top leaders, calling for the overthrow of its government, and reportedly killing more than 200 people, while Iran responded with missiles fired at Israel and US interests in the region.

So far, over 200 have been killed, 700 wounded across 24 provinces in the largest-ever strikes on the nation. The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

At the same time, Pakistan is currently engaged in an operation against the Afghan Taliban, TTP and other terrorists after open conflict broke out with the neighbouring country on February 26, 2026. Pakistan accuses the Taliban regime of facilitating and abetting the TTP and other terrorist groups for launching attacks from its soil and has carried out aerial strikes in areas of Afghanistan against militants.

HOW IT STARTED

On March 1, a pro-military propaganda account that frequently shares AI-doctored content posted a clip with the following caption: “Breaking: TTP’s top Shura Commander Qari Kalid aka Ashna released a video message from Afghanistan, declaring support for Israel against Iran. He told his followers to support Israel and bring down Iran”

The video gained 232,000 views.

The transcription of the video is provided below:

“In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

Dear Muslims and the brave Afghan people, we, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, have announced that we will fully support all the attacks that Israel has made on Iran because Iran is a very treacherous country. It has made many conspiracies against the Muslims.

It has also attacked our Afghan brothers and sisters, and it has attacked the people with great force. Whoever does anything against Iran, whether it is Israel or any other country, we will fully support them.”

The video was also shared by another user on X with the following caption, “Breaking: Taliban side with Israel against Iran. TTP’s top Shura Commander Qari Kalid released a video message from Afghanistan, declaring support for Israel against Iran.”

That post garnered 410,000 views.

A pro-Chinese user on X also shared the same video with the following caption: “Khali Khalid, the top negotiator for the Pakistani Taliban, has released a video message from Afghanistan declaring his support for Israel against Iran.”

The post accumulated 110,000 views.

The video was also separately shared with the claim that the individual shown was a member of Al-Qaeda.

An Iranian user shared the same video on X with the following caption: “Breaking: Al-Qaeda is siding with Israel against Iran. TTP’s top Shura Commander Qari Kalid, aka Ashna, released a video message from Afghanistan, declaring support for Israel against Iran”

The post gained 2.7 million views

Another Iranian account shared the same video with a similar claim. The post was captioned: “Breaking: Al-Qaeda joins the war on the side of Israel. Al-Qaeda will now help Israel fight Iran. Students of geopolitics are not surprised by this. Commander Qari Kalid released a video declaring support. Every Single Time.”

The post garnered 1.3 m views.

The same clip was subsequently shared by several other users on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; Facebook as seen here, here, here, here and here; and Instagram as seen here and here. All these posts accumulated more than a combined 360,000 views.

Despite readers adding context to the video and highlighting discrepancies in it, it continued to be widely shared with the community note displaying on at least 122 posts.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the Israel-Iran conflict.

A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any international media outlets had reported such remarks from the militant groups, but yielded no results. Similarly, a keyword search for the individual in the alleged video also brought up no results for any such militant with that name or occupying that role.

Inspecting the video flags some elements typical of AI-generated videos such as pronunciation errors, a hazy and blurry outline around the individual’s head and the gun on the right seemingly having no trigger.

Analysing the video with AI-detection tool Sight Engine flagged it as having an 88 per cent suspicion rate, indicating a high likelihood of manipulation.

Another AI detection tool, Truth Scan, also labelled it as AI-generated.

Similarly, running the video on AI forensic analysis tool Hive Moderation also flagged it as 65.5pc likely to be a deepfake.

Contacted for comment, Dawn correspondent Tahir Khan — who reports on issues related to the Afghan Taliban, TTP and militancy — also confirmed that the video was a fake and not spread on the terrorist group’s social media channels.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows an Al-Qaeda/TTP member expressing support for Israel over Iran is false.

The video is AI-generated.