Old, Unrelated Visuals Linked to Pakistan Train Hijack by BLA Separatists
These videos predate the recent train hijack in Pakistan.
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Several visuals are going viral on social media where users are linking them to the recent incident where a train traveling from Balochistan to Peshawar, Pakistan was hijacked by separatists group, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
This incident happened on 11 March.
One of the videos going viral shows a train on fire while it passes through a mountainous region.
Another clip shows long line of people walking up a hill where the claim states that it shows the hostages.
One more image showing several coffins with Pakistan's flag on it is being linked to the recent incident.
But what's the truth?: These videos are unrelated to the hijack that recently happened in Pakistan as they predate the incident.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the viral videos and the results led us to old posts.
VISUAL 1:
The results led us to a post on X (formerly Twitter) which was shared on 15 April 2022.
The caption stated that it shows footage shared by BLA which shows IED attack on a train carrying Frontier Corps near Sibbi, Balochistan.
It carried the same video which also shows BLA's logo on the top right corner.
It also led us to a report shared by 'Funker530' from 18 January 2022.
The report also carried the same viral video.
VISUAL 2:
The results led us to a post of X which carried the same viral video and was shared on 11 December 2024.
VISUAL 3: The results led us to an article shared by The Independent on 11 February 2011 and it carried the same viral image.
It stated that 31 soldiers from Pakistan's army were killed in after an explosion set up by a suicide bomber.
Image dates back to 2011.
(Source: Report/Screenshot)
What happened in Pakistan?: The Baloch insurgents hijacked a Peshawar-bound passenger train, Jaffar Express, in Pakistan's Balochistan province.
They have also released a video showing how they blew up the track to derail it before taking the passengers hostage.
The train was carrying over 400 passengers and according to the government, 300 passengers were rescued while 21 hostages were killed.
Conclusion: All the visuals predate the recent incident of a train being hijacked in Pakistan by BLA.
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