Unrelated clips misrepresented as footage of Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict
- Published on March 5, 2026 at 11:37
- 3 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
Afghan and Pakistani troops have clashed along their border since early 2026, but widely shared videos supposedly depicting airstrikes in Islamabad are unrelated. The first clip shows a US military exercise in 2018, while the other shows a massive fire in Cairo on January 29, 2026.
"BREAKING: Afghani BM-21 "Grad"122mm multiple rocket launcher (MRL) in action against Pakistani armed forces on the Durand line," reads the caption a Facebook post published on February 28, 2026.
Durand line is the 2,640 kilometre (1,640 miles) long international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan (archived link).
The post includes a night-time footage of a volley of missiles being fired, accompanied by intense smoke and light.
The clip circulated after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistan airstrikes targeting Kabul on February 26 (archived link).
At least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded since February 26, including children, the UN mission in Afghanistan reported.
Islamabad is yet to comment on civilian casualties and said its troops have killed more than 430 Afghan soldiers (archived link).
Another video circulated alongside similar claims in a Hindi-language Facebook post on February 28 which shows a massive fire and smoke billowing from a building in a residential area.
The caption reads: "Islamabad is burning in flames. After the Pakistani regime once again targeted civilians in Paktia province, the Afghan Air Force launched a massive attack on Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, using suicide drone strikes."
The video was shared elsewhere on Instagram and X posts with similar claims.
While Afghanistan and Pakistan are locked in a violent border battle that has seen deadly attacks, the circulating clips are unrelated to the latest round of fighting.
2018 US military exercise
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes of the false post clip found an identical video shared on X by the 17th Field Artillery Brigade of US Army on August 29, 2018 (archived link).
The post is captioned: "What's the sound of artillery?! @5thBN3rdFAR conducts a night live fire exercise with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in support of their Battery External Evaluations."
@USArmy, the US Army's official X handle, is tagged in the caption.
Subsequent keyword searches on Google found the verified Facebook account of the US Army and the 5th Battalion of 3rd field had uploaded similar videos of the same exercise in August 2018 (archived links here and here).
The same video was shared on YouTube on August 29, 2018 (archived link).
Cairo building fire
Another reverse image search on keyframes of the clip showing a building filled with smoke and fire found a similar video shared on the Instagram account of Qatari broadcaster Alaraby TV -- crediting Facebook page El-Mokattam -- on January 29, 2026 (archived link).
Arabic language caption of the post reads: "A fire broke out in a house and spread to a number of neighboring houses in the Al-Zarayeb area of Mansheyat Nasser district in Cairo."
The Facebook page has shared other visuals of the fire incident from the same day.
News outlet Egypt Today published a screengrab of the video seen in false post, stating there were no casualties in the January 29 fire mishap in Cairo (archived link).
The video was shared by several other media outlets here and here (archived links here, here).
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict.
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