Nigeria fire misrepresented as Pakistan strikes on Afghanistan

Published on March 5, 2026 at 07:26
Updated on March 5, 2026 at 07:39
2 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

Pakistan bombed major Afghan cities including the capital Kabul in late February 2026 in what officials described as a major escalation after months of tit-for-tat violence, but a video supposedly depicting the airstrikes is unrelated to the crisis. The clip was taken in Nigeria in January and captures a fire at a hotel.

"Pakistani airstrikes, conducted as part of Operation Ghazab lil Haq, successfully targeted a Taliban ammunition depot located in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan," reads a X post shared on February 28, 2026.

The 10-second clip shows people running in panic as a fire blazes in the background.

Screenshot of the false X post taken March 3, 2026, with a red cross added by AFP

The clip -- which circulated on X and Facebook -- was shared as Islamabad's defence minister declared Pakistan and Afghanistan were at "open war" (archived link).

Tensions between the neighbours have escalated sharply after a series of cross-border strikes and retaliatory attacks, raising fears of a wider conflict.

The latest operation followed clashes on February 26, when Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops after earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said, "Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar" -- a move that Islamabad said was in response to militant attacks it claims originate from Afghan territory.

But the circulating footage was not taken in Afghanistan.

A reverse image search using keyframes surfaced a slightly longer version of the video shared on X on January 1, with a caption that says: "Video of a fire outbreak that happened at Adesh Hotel, Oyo town Oyo State last night" (archived link).

The video also has the TikTok watermark for user @doncash730, who posted the video on the same day (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between false X post (L) with TikTok post from January 1, 2026. Red X and yellow bozes showing similar elements added by AFP

The user replied to multiple comments saying that the incident was a "Fire at Adesh Hotel, Oyo state", in southwestern Nigeria.

AFP has reached out to the TikTok user but a response was not forthcoming.

Keyword searches for "Adesh Hotel fire incident" led to other videos of the fire from different angles (archived here and here).

AFP was able to confirm the location of the clip by comparing it to Google Street View imagery of the Adesh Hotel in Nigeria's Oyo state (archived link).