The Indian armed forces successfully executed ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the early hours of Wednesday, carrying out targeted strikes on nine ‘terrorist infrastructure’ sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that left 26 civilians dead.
After Operation Sindoor, several pictures and videos not related to the incident, and some old are being widely shared on social media platforms as recent. Here’s a fact check.
Claim 1:
X user Haris Chaudhary shared a video of a crashed jet, claiming it was recent and related to Operation Sindoor.
Investigation:
We ran a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video. This led us to several old videos from the past suggesting: Mirage of Pakistan Air Force crashed near Ratta Tibba district Vehari, Pakistan.
We found a news report about the same.
Claim 2:
X user GHQ 111 Brigade TM shared a video of air strikes seen in a night sky, claiming that the videos are recent from Pakistan’s reply to the Operation Sindoor.
Other users were also sharing the video with the same claim.
Investigation:
We ran a reverse image search on the keyframes and found a post on Facebook from April 10.
The post stated: Meanwhile in Russia – at night unknown drones-helicopters attacked the Kalusk region and the Moscow region… In particular, Vnukovo airports in Moscow and Kaluzsky Airport were closed under the “Carpet” plan.
We also found the video on X.
We also found a news report about the same.
Claim 3:
Several users along with Pakistani media outlets are sharing an image claiming two Indian jets were shot down by Pakistan.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the viral image. This led us to a news report from 2024.
Several other news reports also confirmed that the image was old and from a MiG-29 crash in Rajasthan’s Barmer. The pilot had ejected safely.
We also found several news reports related to the same.
Conclusion: Unrelated, old pictures and videos are being widely shared on social media platforms after Operation Sindoor by the Indian Armed Forces. The viral media and claims are misleading.
