A video showing a Pakistani aircraft set on fire has gone viral as visuals of the recent terrorist attack on Mianwali Training Air Base of the Pakistan Air Force, on Saturday, 4 November.
What is the claim: People linked the video with the terrorist attack on Saturday, said, "Pak Airforce fighter jets up in flames. Attack still ongoing.".
The claim was first shared by a verified X (formerly Twitter) account called @Frontalforce with a misleading claim.
The post was viewed 46,000 times in an hour.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
The post was viewed 46,000 times in an hour. More such posts can be found here.
The video was shared by another X subscriber, MeghUpdates, who has been called out multiple times for spreading disinformation. This post had been viewed over 1,00,000 times.
What is the truth: The video is from May of this year and shows protestors vandalising and setting on a fire a dummy aircraft outside the Mianwali airbase. These were part of the violent protests held on 9 May by supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
How did we find that out:
We took a screenshot of the viral video and conducted a reverse image search of the same on Google.
While going through the search results, we came across posts from May, carrying the viral video.
Reports in Hindustan Times and India Today said that "supporters of former PM Imran Khan stormed an army base in Punjab and set a Chinese Shenyang F-6 dummy aircraft on fire."
It carried an extended version of the viral video.
A comparison between the viral video and the video from May.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
We also found social media posts about the incident back from 9 May, including one from Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who falsely claimed that the aircraft was the one used by former Pakistani fighter pilot MM Alam.
Another video from 15 May showed the PAF Jet model after its restoration.
What happened in Mianwali airbase:
A terrorist attack by at least six terrorists on the Mianwali Training Air Base of Pakistan Air Force was foiled by the Pakistan Army, Dawn reported, quoting the Inter-Services Public Relations.
The report further added that three terrorists were killed while three others were "cornered".
The terrorists were, however, able to damage three already grounded aircraft and a fuel bowser, the report said.
Conclusion: An old video of protestors attacking a setting on fire a dummy jet outside Mianwali airbase was falsely linked to the recent terrorist attack.
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