Claim: A video shows an Afghan migrant admitting to damaging public property and committing violence on the instructions of Pakistani nationalist leaders.
Fact: The caption of the post makes a false claim. The migrant, who returned to Afghanistan, did not confess to anything of the sort in the video. Speaking in Pashto, he actually says, “I had been wanting to come to Afghanistan for the past two years and had been trying, but I couldn’t come. Even the Pashtuns over there are dishonest.” He further added, “I’d give up my daily wage of 300 rupees to attend Mahmood Khan’s rallies. I went to support him for the sake of Pashtun solidarity, but even he did not step forward to help with our issues.”
X user @C0b1ra shared a video (archive) of a man speaking in Pashto, writing, “پاکستان سے ڈی پورٹ ہونے والا افغان شہری افغانستان میں جاکر خود اقرار کر رہے کہ کچھ پاکستانی قومپرست لیڈرز اپنے جلسے جلوسوں دھرنوں میں تھوڑ پھوڑ سرکاری املاک کو نقصان پہنچانے کیلئے ہمیں استعمال کرتے تھے”
[Translation: An Afghan citizen deported from Pakistan, upon arriving in Afghanistan, is openly admitting that some Pakistani nationalist leaders used them to cause destruction, damage public property, and create chaos during their rallies, processions, and sit-ins.]
Ibrahim Zauq, a cinematographer at our sister company Soch Videos, translated the video, and explained that the man says, “I had been wanting to come to Afghanistan for the past two years and had been trying, but I couldn’t come. Even the Pashtuns over there are dishonest.” He further said, “I’d give up my daily wage of 300 rupees to attend Mahmood Khan’s rallies. I went to support him for the sake of Pashtun solidarity, but even he did not step forward to help with our issues.”
Afghan deportations from Pakistan
Following a surge in militant attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan in 2023, some of which were blamed on Afghan nationals, then Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced that all illegal immigrants must leave the country by 1 November 2023 or face deportation by law enforcement agencies. By 31 October 2023 Bugti informed the reporters that, an estimated 200,000 Afghans had returned to Afghanistan. Many of them chose to leave voluntarily ahead of the government-imposed deadline to avoid potential violence or persecution.
By July 2024, the number of undocumented Afghans who had returned to the country had risen to over 600,000. That same month, Pakistan suspended evictions on humanitarian grounds and extended Proof of Residence cards until June 2025. However, in March 2025, Islamabad set an early April deadline for approximately 800,000 Afghan nationals, holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), issued by Pakistani authorities, to leave the country. This deadline was later extended to 30 April.
As of 18 April 2025, Pakistan has confirmed the repatriation of over 80,000 Afghan nationals since the beginning of this month.
Fact or Fiction?
Since our cinematographer’s translation revealed that the migrant did not say anything resembling the claims in the viral post, Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes of the video to trace the original version. The video (archive) was first shared on X on 12 November 2023 by the spokesman for Kabul Police Command, Ministry of Interior Khalid Zadran. According to its caption: “د کابل ښار شمالي ترمینل دی چې له پاکستانه د راستانه شویو کډوالو لپاره یو لنډ مهاله کېمپ جوړ شوی.
پۀ دغه کېمپ کې د کډوالو لپاره د اوسېدو، خوراک، څښاک او درملنې اسانتیاوې برابرې شوي.”
[Translated from Pashto: The northern terminal of Kabul city, where a temporary camp has been established for migrants returning from Pakistan.
In this camp, facilities for accommodation, food, drinking water, and medical treatment have been provided for the migrants.]
Zauq, who reviewed both videos, confirmed that this video is an extended version of the clip in the claim. It also shows the rest of the setup at the camp.
We scoured the internet for news reports to gain further context about the camp. In 2023, the Taliban government established temporary camps near key border crossings and urban centres, including Kabul following the mass deportations from Pakistan. These camps were meant to receive and register returnees, many of whom arrived with limited belongings. They were provided basic services such as shelter, food, and limited medical care.
To further investigate the claim, we searched for news reports about deported Afghans confessing to committing violence or vandalism in Pakistan on the instruction of nationalist leaders, but did not find any relevant results.
Based on Zauq’s translation and the caption of the original post, and the absence of any supporting evidence, Soch Fact Check concludes that the claim is false. An Afghan migrant did not admit to committing vandalism on the instructions of Pakistani nationalist leaders.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: The viral video does not show an Afghan migrant confessing to committing acts of vandalism or violence at the behest of Pakistani nationalist leaders. In fact, he says “I had been wanting to come to Afghanistan for the past two years and had been trying, but I couldn’t come. Even the Pashtuns over there are dishonest.” He further added, “I’d give up my daily wage of 300 rupees to attend Mahmood Khan’s rallies. I went to support him for the sake of Pashtun solidarity, but even he did not step forward to help with our issues.”
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Background image in cover photo: Abdul Basit/AFP
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