As the deadline of 31 August for the U.S pullout from Afghanistan is nearing, Islamic State, a terrorist organization attacked the Kabul airport in a series of bomb attacks on Thursday, 26 August. According to Reuters, at least 13 U.S troops were killed in the attack disrupting the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee. The news agency also reported the killing of 60 civilians, according to the Kabul Health officials.
However, Indian Media outlets and several other social media users have shared a video and images of an airstrike with the claim of it being the bomb attack at the Kabul Airport. Facto News found out that the video is of the Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Punjab Kesari, a Hindi newspaper posted the video on Facebook and Instagram with the caption that reads: “काबुल मेंधमाके का वीडियो आया सामने” (Video of Kabul blast surfaced.)
Zee Salam, the Urdu News channel of the Zee Network also posted the video on Facebook as exclusive. The caption along with the post reads: “काबुल एयरपोर्ट बम धमाके में 13 लोगों की मौत…”. (13 killed in Kabul airport bombings.)
The news agency IANS tweeted a collage of three photos of the Israeli airstrike on Gaza as of the attack at the Kabul Airport. The caption along with the post reads: “A #Taliban leader said that at least 11 people, including women and children, were killed, and a number of Taliban guards got injured in the blast.”
The archived version of the same video posted with the false claim by other users can be accessed here, here, here, here, here here, and here.
FactO Check:
We fragmented the video into keyframes using the InVID chrome extension and reverse searched the keyframes and found the same video uploaded on 22 August by a Youtube channel 4EYES. The description of the video reads: “IAF struck multiple targets in the Gaza strip on the 21st of August 2021”.
We also found the same video attached in an article published on 21 August on a Turkish website HABERLER.COM. As per the website, airstrikes were carried out by the Israeli warplanes on different parts of the Gaza strip. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz also spoke about the airstrike. He said: Israel will respond and we are in a sensitive hour right now.”
The article also carries the keyframe images of the video and the credit to the video is given to İhlas News Agency. The news agency is Turkey-based.
We also found tweets of a BBC journalist, Shayan Sardarizadeh who investigates online disinformation. He fact-checked the same video posted by Twitter users. He posted the screenshot from the video and called it “an explosion in Gaza, not Kabul”.
This one (left), as reported by @AuroraIntel (right), shows an explosion in Gaza, not Kabul. pic.twitter.com/fwUYcHToO9
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) August 26, 2021
To bring more clarity to our readers we have made a comparative collage.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it is evident from the above findings that the media outlets used the wrong video while reporting the Kabul bomb attack.