Dhaka: A video that has been making rounds on social media, purportedly showing an Indian army attack in Sialkot, Pakistan, has been debunked by the fact-checking body Rumor Scanner. The organization revealed that the video is, in fact, an old clip of a fire incident in India.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the video in question is actually footage of a fire involving a gas cylinder truck in Dharavi, Mumbai, India, which occurred on March 24. Despite claims of it depicting an Indian military offensive, the video has no connection to any combat activities.
The confusion arose in the context of recent tensions between India and Pakistan. On May 6, a series of explosions were reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India asserted responsibility, stating that they had executed ‘Operation Sindoor’, an air strike operation targeting installations linked to militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan countered by claiming that they had successfully shot down five Indian warplanes.
The fact-checking watchdog conducted a thorough investigation, concluding that the video circulating on social media does not show an Indian attack on Sialkot. Instead, it matches a video posted on March 25 by Indian online news channel N9 India, showing the Dharavi fire incident. The surroundings and scene in the video were found to be identical to the one alleged to be of military action.