CLAIM
Viral video of Houthis captured Pakistani armoured vehicle
RATING JUSTIFICATION
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.
To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image and keyword search to corroborate the claim.
Several users have been sharing a video on the social media platforms X and Facebook since September 6, 2026, purportedly showing a Houthi soldier driving an armoured vehicle captured from Pakistani forces in Yemen. However, the video is old from April 2020 and shows nothing of the sort.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the bilateral Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) on September 17, 2025, which was further expanded into the trilateral Makkah Joint Defence Agreement alongside Turkiye on August 7, 2026, seeking to strengthen the collective security of the three states and empowering member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all.
On May 18, 2026, Pakistan deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia under the mutual defence pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war.
Fresh hostilities have resumed between the Houthis and the Yemeni government coalition supported by Saudi Arabia.
HOW IT STARTED
A Pakistan account, based on its username and past posts, shared a video on X on Sept 7, showing an individual driving an armoured vehicle allegedly claimed to have been captured from Pakistani soldiers, provided by Saudi Arabia.
The caption of the post reads: “Following the clashes, Houthi forces have seized multiple armoured vehicles of the Pakistan Army, which Saudi Arabia had provided to Pakistani troops. Pakistani officers were deployed to support Saudi Arabia’s defence operations, while reports indicate that several Pakistani soldiers have also been killed in these clashes.”
The post gained 36,000 views.
An Afghan account, based on its username and past posts, shared the same video with a similar caption, gaining 11,00 views on X.
The video in a similar context was shared by several other users on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Several other users, a majority of whom were Arab users based on their usernames and past posts, shared the same video without the Pakistani context.
A user shared the video on X on September 6 with the following caption: “Breaking: The Houthis seize armoured vehicles of the Southern Giants Forces after Saudi Arabia threw them into the coast and Taiz without any air cover. Until when will Saudi Arabia continue to push the southerners into a war whose price is paid only by the south?”
The post gained 302,000 views.
Another user shared the same video with a similar context, which gained 12,000 views.
The video in a similar context was further shared by several other users on Facebook and X, 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 issue of Pakistani deployments in the Middle East after the defence pact with Saudi Arabia.
A keyword search did not yield any results from credible mainstream Pakistani or international news outlets about any such development or Pakistani involvement in the ongoing Saudi hostilities against the Houthis. Neither was the video covered by any credible outlet in the same context.
A reverse image search was conducted to trace the source of the footage and yielded a Facebook post, dated October 20, 2025, with the following caption: “Prepare an armoured vehicle for you. Mohammad Ali al-Houthi is seen driving around in an armoured vehicle. Why didn’t you close the door, you idiot?”
As per the description of the post, the individual driving the armoured vehicle is Mohammad Ali al-Houthi — a Yemeni politician, Houthi leader and the former president of the Revolutionary Committee.
A keyword search to see if Mohammad Ali al-Houthi ever drove an armoured vehicle yielded the full video. It was posted by his official account on X, dated April 1, 2020, with the following caption: “Armoured vehicle from the aggressor’s armoured vehicles. May God preserve the mujahideen, grant them victory through the armed forces, security, and popular committees.”
Further keyword search yielded a report by Yemen Press Agency, dated April 2, 2020, with the following headline: “Video: Al-Houthi appears into one of Saudi military vehicles.
According to the report, he appeared on April 1, 2020, in a video driving a modern armoured vehicle of the Saudi-led coalition in the suburbs of the capital, Sanaa.
FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE
The claim that a viral clip shows Houthis parading a captured Pakistani armoured vehicle is false.
The video is from April 1, 2020, and shows a Yemeni Houthi politician driving a captured armoured vehicle of the Saudi-led coalition.
EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES
Oct 20, 2025, Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2767376676912445/posts/4084872831829483/
Apr 1, 2020, X post:
https://x.com/Moh_Alhouthi/status/1245328302837022721?s=20
April 2, 2020, Yemen Press Agency report:
https://en.ypagency.net/164486