Latest news with #Vehari
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Footage of plane wreckage falsely linked to India-Pakistan crisis
"Funeral of Indian fighter jet held in Pakistan. Pakistani people are putting out the fire with sand," reads the Bengali-language caption of a Facebook video posted on May 7, 2025. The video shows the burning wreckage of a crashed fighter jet, with some individuals speaking in Punjabi trying to put out the flames by throwing sand and dirt on it. It was shared as India and Pakistan engaged in four days of intense fighting in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades. More than 70 people on both sides were killed in the jet fighter, missile, drone and heavy artillery attacks which came to a halt on May 10 after the announcement of a ceasefire (archived link). The conflict was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge Pakistan denies. The video was also shared alongside similar posts on Facebook and Instagram. The footage, however, does not show a crashed Indian jet during the latest conflict. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage posted on Instagram by online news outlet eTimes Pakistan on April 16 (archived link). "A Pakistan Air Force Jet has crashed near Vehari City," reads its caption, referring to a city in Pakistan's Punjab province. Pakistan news outlet Dawn used a still from the video in its report about the crash on April 16 (archived link). According to the Dawn report, the aircraft "was on a training flight but crashed due to some technical fault". AFP previously debunked similar posts that misrepresented visuals from the same crash here, and has debunked other false claims related to the latest India-Pakistan conflict here.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Footage of assault predates latest India-Pakistan conflict
"A Pakistani woman asked for proof of the strikes on India. In response, Pakistani men beat her and tore her clothes," reads a Hindi-language X post shared May 14, 2025. The video attached to the post, which has more than 760,000 views, appears to show a group of men hitting a woman as they drag her towards a parked vehicle. The video circulated days after New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to a ceasefire, bringing a halt to four days of intense fighting that left more than 70 people dead on both sides (archived link). The fighting, the worst between the neighbours in decades, came two weeks after an attack that killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing. Pakistan firmly denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation. But the circulating video, which also spread in similar Facebook and Instagram posts, predates the latest conflict between the arch-rivals. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage posted April 24 by Pakistani news outlet Daily Taas on Facebook (archived link). Its Urdu-language caption reads in part: "Influential men in Vehari assaulted a transgender woman, Shahzad alias Shahzadi, and tried to force her into a car after she rejected their advances. They fled after she resisted and screamed, prompting them to open fire. A case was registered at Daniwal police station." Vehari is a town in Pakistan's Punjab province. Daily Taas included a copy of the victim's statement to police in a comment to the post. The victim said they were drinking tea at a hotel on April 23 when several cars, including the white vehicle shown in the video, pulled up. "The men inside tried to force me to go with them. They assaulted me and attempted to drag me into the car. One of them threatened me, saying, 'Befriend me, or we will deal with you." AFP confirmed with local police that the victim's statement included in the Facebook post is genuine. Vehari police official Farazul Haq also told AFP on May 15: "Five people were arrested on April 23, and two of them have been sent to jail on charges of attempted kidnapping and beating up a transgender person." He added that three people were "released after a compromise with the complainant". Local media outlets also covered the incident (archived here and here). AFP has debunked a flurry of misinformation stemming from the conflict between India and Pakistan here.
