A video showing rows of coffins has been viewed thousands of times in X-posts that falsely claimed to show last rites for “130 soldiers” killed in separatist attacks in Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan province. The footage actually shows the coffins of police officers killed by a criminal gang just days before attacks in Balochistan that left dozens dead.
The images, which show mourners standing in lines near coffins, were shared in a X-message on August 27, which was viewed 117,000 times.
“130 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives in #OperationHerof,” the clip reads.
On August 26, separatist militants pulled passengers from buses, blew up a bridge and stormed a hotel. coordinated attacks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, dubbed “Operation Herof” (archived link).
The dead include 34 civilians and 15 members of the security forces, while the military says its troops killed 21 militants.
Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence in impoverished Balochistan for decades, but the attacks that have struck several districts in the province are among the worst in the region’s history.
“The Majeed Brigade of Balochs is a unique brigade,” says a man commenting on the video, referring to a separatist militant group that has claimed attacks in the region.
“They carry out different types of attacks and when they carry out attacks they tell their families that they are not coming back. This is the level of these people.”
The video was circulated in similar X-messages here And here.
However, the footage shows the funeral of police officers killed in a rocket attack in Pakistan’s Punjab province, four days before the killings in Balochistan.
A reverse search for the video and keywords returned the clip posted in YouTube videos here And here of August 24 and 25 stating that “police martyrs” were seen in Rahim Yar Khan district of Punjab (archived here And here).
There were at least twelve police officers killed in Rahim Yar Khan on August 22 when a rocket launcher targeted their broken down van (archived link).
Organized criminal gangs have been active in the riverine areas of the southern provinces of Sindh and Punjab for decades, often making money through kidnapping and ransom.
Below is a screenshot of the video shared in fake news (left) and the one shared on YouTube about the missile strike (right):
An AFP photo of the funeral of the police officers, which took place on August 23, shows the same coffins, flowers, carpet and marquee (archived link).
Below is a screenshot of the video in the fake news (left) and the one from AFP (right), with the similarities highlighted.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered “immediate and effective action” against the attackers, his office said in a statement.
