No, Clip Does Not Show Men Attacking Mosque in Pakistan To Sell Its Iron & Brick

The video shows some men attacking the mosque belonging to Ahmadiyya community.

Fact-Check | The video of a mosque being demolished in Pakistan is being shared with a false claim. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of several people hammering on the walls of what seems to be a mosque is going viral on the internet.

What are users claiming?: People on social media have shared the clip linking it to Pakistan's economic crisis, which has seen food items and other necessities being sold at inflated rates.

An archive of the tweet can be found here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

(More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)

Are these claims true?: No, the claim is false.

• The Ahmadi Masjid in Karachi's Saddar was vandalised by some men who were chanting slogans against the Ahmadiyya community.

• This was yet another attack against the community's places of worship in Pakistan.

• The Quint spoke to a Pakistani journalist, Lubna Jerar Naqvi, who confirmed the details of the incident.

What led us to the truth?: A keyword search led us to a report published by The Express Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper, on 3 February.

• The report carried a similar visual and mentioned some people chanted slogans against the Ahmadiyya community and vandalised their place of worship.

• The incident happened in the jurisdiction of the Preedy police station.

• SHO Sajjad Khan told the newspaper that police personnel was also attacked while trying to control the situation.

• He further said, "We will register the case if the community does not come forward."

The report was published on 3 February. 

(Source: The Express Tribune/Screenshot)

A report in Dawn further mentioned that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered in the Preedy police station, and five suspects have been detained.

• The FIR said that at around 3:35 pm on Thursday, 10-15 people attacked the mosque and defiled the minarets that were around 78 years old.

Repeated attacks: A report published in The Indian Express said that the Ahmadiyya community face persecution and is often attacked in Pakistan. For example, a different worship site in the Wazirabad district was destroyed in January.

Conclusion: The video does not show people vandalising a mosque to sell its bricks and iron to buy food.

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