Old Video Viral as ‘Pakistani Official Down’ After India’s Operation Sindoor

We were able to trace the video back to 15 April 2025, which predates the Indian Army's Operation Sindoor.

An old video from Pakistan is being shared with the false claim that it shows a 'Pakistani official down' amid the Indian Army's Operation Sindoor.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a man in military fatigues writhing on the ground as locals tend to him has gone viral on social media, where users have claimed that it shows a "Pakistani official down" after the Indian Army's Operation Sindoor.

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)

Is it true?: No, the claim is false as this clip predates the Indian Army's operation, which took place on 7 May.

• The video reportedly shows the pilot of a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Mirage 5 training aircraft which crashed in Pakistan's Vehari district in April 2025.

How do we know?: A simple reverse image search using Google Lens led us to a Facebook post by a page called 'Narowal News Live', which had shared a longer version of the same video on 15 April 2025.

• The post was captioned "Pak Air Force's training plane crashed (sic)"

The video was shared weeks before Operation Sindoor.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

• We also came across a YouTube video which had shared similar visuals on 15 April, as visuals of "PAF Fighter Aircraft Huge Crash."

The video was shared on 15 April 2025.

(Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

• Another X user from India had also shared the video with the same context, adding that it showed the pilots of a PAF Mirage aircraft which crashed near Vehari district.

• The posts were shared when a Pakistan Air Force's training aircraft, a Dassault Mirage 5, crashed near the Ratta Tibba area in Pakistan's Vehari district due to a technical malfunction, Samaa TV reported.

• Both pilots had ejected safely and locals gave them primary first aid before the PAF airlifted them for further medical attention, their report added.

• Team WebQoof debunked misinformation surrounding the same incident on 7 May, when a video of the aircraft crashing was also falsely linked to the armed conflict following the Indian Army's Operation Sindoor, which you can read here.

We also debunked similar claims around a video which showed the aircraft crashing in Pakistan's Vehari.

(Source: The Quint)

While we could not independently verify where the video was taken, we can confirm that it predates the armed conflict surrounding Operation Sindoor.

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