This video shows an Indian army drill at a firing range in western India

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 20, 2019 at 10:30
Updated on November 20, 2019 at 12:06
2 min read
By AFP India

A video of artillery fire next to a mountainous region has been viewed thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts alongside a claim it shows the Indian army sending “greetings to Pakistan” ahead of the Hindu festival Diwali. The claim is false; the video shows an Indian army drill at a firing range near western Indian city of Nashik in Maharashtra state.

The 35-second video was published here on Facebook on October 22, 2019. It has been viewed more than 1,500 times.

The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “Advance Diwali greetings to Pakistan.”

Diwali refers to a Hindu festival.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

The same video was also shared here, here, here and here on Facebook alongside a similar claim, and has been viewed more than 1,400 times.

The claim is false; the video shows an Indian army drill at a firing range in India’s western state of Maharashtra.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes extracted using video verification tool InVID found the same video was published in this report by Indian news channel Republic TV on June 28, 2019.

“Showcasing the country’s military prowess, video footage of the Indian Army firing the BM-21 Grad battery in Nasik’s Deolali has been accessed,” says the video caption.

Below is a screenshot of the report:

(Screenshot of media report)

Deolali is a small hill station in Maharashtra state in western India. It does not neighbour Pakistan.

According to Google Maps, Deolali is more than 660 kilometres (411 miles) away from the nearest land India-Pakistan land border at Kuwala.

Below is a screenshot of the distance:

Screenshot of Google Maps

A search on Twitter found the same video posted here by journalist Manish Prasad, from Hindi-language broadcaster India TV, on June 28, 2019.

Roar of #BM21Grad-

20 sec,40 #Rockets.
Range- 40km and more with Upgradation soon.#God of of battlefield and Lock and key with motto of “Sarvatra izzat o iqbal”

Watch @indiatvnews. Report from Artillery Range.@adgpi pic.twitter.com/DqP4kp3Cjw
— Manish Prasad (@manishindiatv) June 28, 2019

Prasad also tweeted a second video of the drill from a different angle here on the same day.

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