Old Video Shared as Recent Visuals From Attack on Pakistan’s Mianwali Airbase

The video dates back to 9 May when supporters of Imran Khan attacked and vandalised several government buildings.

Fact-Check: People falsely linked the video with the terrorist attack on Saturday.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a Pakistani aircraft set on fire has gone viral as visuals of the recent terrorist attack on Mianwali Training Air Base of the Pakistan Air Force, on Saturday, 4 November.

What is the claim: People linked the video with the terrorist attack on Saturday, said, "Pak Airforce fighter jets up in flames. Attack still ongoing.".

The claim was first shared by a verified X (formerly Twitter) account called @Frontalforce with a misleading claim.

The post was viewed 46,000 times in an hour. 

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The post was viewed 46,000 times in an hour. More such posts can be found here.

The video was shared by another X subscriber, MeghUpdates, who has been called out multiple times for spreading disinformation. This post had been viewed over 1,00,000 times.

What is the truth: The video is from May of this year and shows protestors vandalising and setting on a fire a dummy aircraft outside the Mianwali airbase. These were part of the violent protests held on 9 May by supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

How did we find that out:

• We took a screenshot of the viral video and conducted a reverse image search of the same on Google.

• While going through the search results, we came across posts from May, carrying the viral video.

• Reports in Hindustan Times and India Today said that "supporters of former PM Imran Khan stormed an army base in Punjab and set a Chinese Shenyang F-6 dummy aircraft on fire."

• It carried an extended version of the viral video.

A comparison between the viral video and the video from May.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

• We also found social media posts about the incident back from 9 May, including one from Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who falsely claimed that the aircraft was the one used by former Pakistani fighter pilot MM Alam.

• Another video from 15 May showed the PAF Jet model after its restoration.

What happened in Mianwali airbase:

• A terrorist attack by at least six terrorists on the Mianwali Training Air Base of Pakistan Air Force was foiled by the Pakistan Army, Dawn reported, quoting the Inter-Services Public Relations.

• The report further added that three terrorists were killed while three others were "cornered".

• The terrorists were, however, able to damage three already grounded aircraft and a fuel bowser, the report said.

Conclusion: An old video of protestors attacking a setting on fire a dummy jet outside Mianwali airbase was falsely linked to the recent terrorist attack.

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