Pakistan highway blast misrepresented as scene from renewed Middle East war
- Published on August 3, 2026 at 08:45
- 3 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Harshana SILVA, AFP Sri Lanka
As fighting resumed between the United States and Iran in July 2026, social media posts falsely shared a video of an explosion as scenes from an Iranian attack on a US military facility in Kuwait. The clip was filmed in the coastal town of Panwan in southern Pakistan and was published in reports about a suicide attack claimed by a prominent militant group.
"Iran targets American-controlled Kuwaiti border crossings. Abdali crossing completely wiped off the map," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post published on July 25, 2026.
The post shares a minute-long video that shows a blue truck entering a secured compound before a large explosion erupts seconds later, sending thick smoke billowing into the air.
"How American-Abdali border crossing bases in Kuwaiti border are being attacked by Iran," reads the Sinhala-language overlaid text.
The video surfaced after the Kuwaiti military said drones had targeted the Al-Abdali border crossing with Iraq on July 23 (archived link).
"Al-Abdali border post was repeatedly targeted by enemy drone attacks this evening, which resulted in material damage with no casualties," the Kuwait Army said in a statement published on social media on the same day (archived link).
Iran's military said on July 31 that it launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities in Kuwait, as fighting between Washington and Tehran resumed after a nearly week-long lull (archived link).
Similar claims were shared elsewhere on Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads and in Thai-language and Arabic posts.
But this circulating video does not show the drone attack at the Kuwait-Iraq border crossing.
Pakistan blast
A reverse image search using keyframes from the circulating video found that the footage in fact shows an attack by the Pakistan-based Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group carried out on July 3, 2026 (archived links here and here).
The clip was released by the BLA's media wing, Hakkal, and was reported by The Balochistan Post and India-based outlet WION (archived links here and here).
The full nine-minute video shows the attack being planned, an aerial recording of the blast and its aftermath.
According to the reports, the militant group targeted a Pakistani Coast Guard camp in the Panwan area of Jiwani in the country's southern Gwadar district.
Pakistani authorities have acknowledged the incident but have not publicly confirmed the casualty figures claimed by the BLA, according to The Balochistan Post.
A Google Maps search shows the Panwan area, and a structure along Gwadar Road that resembles the one seen in the circulating video (archived links here and here).
Google Earth satellite imagery of Gwadar Road matched elements seen in the video, including the structure and an intersection on the road (archived link).
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province's most active militant separatist group, accuses Pakistan's government of exploiting natural gas and abundant mineral resources without benefiting the local population.
The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organisation, has intensified attacks in Pakistan in recent years (archived link).
AFP has debunked false claims about Kuwait amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
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