Claim: The Khorasan Diary reported that the US Forces employed long-range drones to carry out a drone strike in Ismailkhil Mandozai district of Khost province in southeastern Afghanistan. According to these screenshots, the US sought the help of locals to find their targets in Afghanistan.
Fact: Founders of The Khorasan Diary, Iftikhar Firdous and Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, have both issued clarifications denying the news and stated the screenshots were posted by an account impersonating The Khorasan Diary.
On 17 May 2023, a screenshot claiming to be representing information sourced from The Khorasan Diary (TKD) went viral.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check searched for the authentic Khorasan Diary handle and the Twitter accounts of the founders of the organisation to ascertain that the information in this screenshot was not shared by The Khorasan Diary.
Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, a co-founder of TKD, tweeted, “Multiple people have shared and brought to our attention this screenshot enquiring about its authenticity & use of our name. The following person and/or entity is impersonating [the] identity of The Khorasan Diary, we categorically refute this claim and shall be reporting this handle.”
The Founding Editor, Iftikhar Firdous, also tweeted: “Fake account impersonating the Khorasan Diary. Rather an edited screenshot with fabricated information.”
Nizam Salarzai of TKD also confirmed that this news of US forces colluding with Afghan locals to launch drone strikes was not reported by The Khorasan Diary.
Virality
The claim and screenshots were spread widely on WhatsApp, where they were sent to us to investigate.
Conclusion: TKD screenshot claiming US forces colluded with Afghan nationals is fake.
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