Claim: Visuals show the aftermath of an operation by authorities against protesters of the PTI in Islamabad. Four of these images show bloodied roads, while the other two likely resemble scenes of a bombing.
Fact: All six images are AI-generated, as identified by multiple tell-tale markers. The visuals in question also do not accurately show Jinnah Avenue, the actual road in Islamabad where the protest took place.
At the end of November 2024, multiple images popped up on social media with the claim that they show the aftermath of a late night crackdown by authorities on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters in Islamabad. Soch Fact Check noticed that a number of these images, shared with the hashtag #IslamabadMassacre, are not authentic.
The demonstrators had gathered at the federal capital’s D-Chowk for a protest to demand the release of all political prisoners, including former Prime Minister and party founder Imran Khan, the reversal of a recent constitutional amendment, and to reclaim a “stolen mandate” from the 2024 general elections.
Soch Fact Check understands that certain social media posts and claims circulating on platforms like WhatsApp may be immediately identifiable as false. However, they warrant a fact-check because some users — such as those who are unfamiliar with how to verify misinformation, who may only skim the content or those who are staunch supporters of a political party or public figure — may take these posts at face-value.
PTI protests in Islamabad
Khan had issued a “final call” asking his supporters to gather for a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, a famous location for demonstrations, on 24 November. Party leaders and thousands of supporters from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab provinces mobilised right away and moved towards the capital.
On 26 November, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued (archive) stern warnings against entering D-Chowk — which is part of the governmental area called the Red Zone — while police and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) engaged in aggressive crowd control tactics. Pakistan Army troops were deployed (archive) across the capital, especially as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was visiting to meet (archive) with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the time.
Internet blackouts were reported (archive) in Islamabad and containers set up to block the protesters’ routes. Multiple other cities also experienced slow connectivity or disruptions to social media.
Police fired (archive) rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters attempting to enter the area. According to some reports, at least six people died (archive) during the confrontations. Some journalists also spoke (archive) of how apparent demonstrators attacked them and their offices. Soch Fact Check is unable to confirm the exact number of casualties and injuries at this time.
In a statement, Amnesty International urged authorities to “exercise maximum restraint” and highlighted “grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression”. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on the other hand, demanded the government and the PTI to “immediately enter a purposeful political dialogue” and avoid “bringing the country to a standstill” through such protests. It also denounced casualties, whether of protesters or law enforcement officials.
On 27 November, however, the PTI announced that the protest was “temporarily cancelled” in light of what it said was the “government’s brutality” and a “plan to turn the capital [Islamabad] into an execution chamber of unarmed civilians”. The development came hours after party leaders, including Bushra Bibi, Khan’s wife who was leading the demonstrations, and KP CM Gandapur, made a “frantic escape” in the night when authorities launched a raid to disperse the protesters.
However, the same day, Gandapur stated that the protest was continuing and that the final decision was for Khan to make.
The ‘lockdown’ in the federal capital was eventually lifted on 27 November. The Pakistani state-owned outlet PTV quoted Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi as saying that at least 954 suspects were arrested, over 200 vehicles impounded, 39 weapons, including Kalashnikov guns, recovered, over 70 security personnel injured, and more than 165 safe city cameras were damaged.
Khan has threatened a “nationwide civil disobedience movement” if his negotiation team’s two demands — releasing under-trial prisoners and establishing a judicial commission to probe the 9 May 2023 and 26 November 2024 altercations — were not met by the government, according to a 6 December post on his X account.
Casualty figures
The PTI has claimed that 12 of its workers were killed in what it has termed the “Islamabad Massacre”, according to a dossier compiled and distributed by the party. A 27 November report in The Express Tribune quoted medical sources as saying “six civilians” were among the deceased.
Multiple international media outlets, including BBC Urdu, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera, reported on the casualty figures, the state’s alleged move to suppress data from being released to the public, and health professionals who were reportedly barred from speaking to the media due to pressure.
The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) — one of Islamabad’s two main public hospitals — refused to provide hospital records to the BBC, which quoted the families of those who were injured as saying the facility also denied providing patient files to them. The publication said it had information that the bodies of at least “two PTI workers were brought there”.
PIMS had earlier “confirmed the death of two civilians and injuries to around 60 persons, including security personnel”, according to a 27 November report by Dawn.
Similarly, Islamabad’s second public hospital, the Federal Government Poly Clinic (FGPC), also received the bodies of three people who were shot on 26 November, according to the BBC, which obtained the facility’s records. The report added that a doctor claimed the police “prevented him from handing over the bodies to the heirs” and that two staffers alleged officers stopped them “from performing post-mortems on the bodies”.
The BBC said it also observed that Rangers and police officers were guarding the hospital’s gates, wards, and emergency rooms at PIMS, while every individual was questioned before they were allowed inside. The staff there, it added, was monitoring everyone’s activities and several doctors revealed “they were under pressure from the police to hand over the injured”.
The Guardian visited hospitals in the capital city and observed some of those who were brought in for treatment. It noted that according to official sources, there were “17 civilian fatalities” from the authorities’ gunfire and “hundreds more had been injured”.
The publication reported the alleged suppression by the state, quoting a doctor on emergency ward duty as saying “at least seven have died and four are in critical condition” and that authorities had “confiscated” all records of the people who died and those who were wounded. “We are not allowed to talk. Senior government officials are visiting the hospital to hide the records,” the medic told The Guardian, which added that families of the injured “were too scared to speak”.
Al Jazeera spoke to the families of four PTI workers who were reportedly killed and wrote about the alleged intimidation and harassment they faced by the authorities. The relatives spoke about how the bodies of the deceased were withheld to pressure them into not filing legal cases.
In another report published 1 December, Dawn quoted “a representative from the health authorities [as saying] that they had been barred from speaking on the issue as the interior ministry was dealing with it”. The publication also noted that unnamed doctors at both PIMS and FGPC also pointed out certain “anomalies” in the alleged death certificates of the PTI workers that were circulating on social media.
Journalists targeted
Meanwhile, two journalists — Matiullah Jan and Saqib Bashir — were “abducted” from PIMS’ parking lot on 28 November, according to an X post by the former’s son, who said the unidentified “abductors [came] in an unmarked vehicle”, and multiple international media reports. The latter was let go three hours later. The move was condemned by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The CPJ and media reports stated that the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Islamabad Police against Jan included charges of terrorism, drug possession, and assaulting law enforcement officers — which his lawyer, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, said were “absurd”.
The human rights and press freedom groups noted that the detention came about after he reported on the PTI protests and disputed the government’s claims and data on the casualties. They also called for his immediate release and termed the charges trumped-up and politically-motivated.
Bashir said the two of them “were collecting data on the casualties” at PIMS before they were detained, according to Reuters, which also quoted Jan as saying he “was investigating about the (sic) dead bodies”.
Munizae Jahangir, a news anchor and the HRCP’s co-chairperson, said Jan “was reporting from hospitals on those injured & killed from bullet wounds at [the] PTI protest & [it] seems that’s why he has been arrested for his journalistic work”.
Jan was eventually released on 30 November, Mazari-Hazir confirmed on X.
Denials by govt, public hospitals
Both PIMS and the FGPC have now denied receiving any dead bodies and issued statements — here and here — terming the reports “fake”. These rebuttals were also referenced by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
The PML-N government has refuted claims of gunshot-related deaths, according to a report, which said Tarar asserted that no demonstrator died due to law enforcement officers’ alleged shooting. He even denied that security personnel were carrying live ammunition on the day.
In other reports, the minister was quoted as saying that the “health department has issued two separate statements confirming this” and blaming “some medical professionals [who] have clearly shown their political affiliation”. He said, “I can definitely confirm that the medical superintendent, hospital in-charge, and the Health Ministry have issued written information about this and they have clearly denied it.”
In a 1 December statement, the Interior Ministry said the figure of fatalities was a “planned and coordinated massive fake propaganda” and those responsible for it “will surely be held accountable under relevant laws”. It added, “Alarmingly, certain elements of foreign media also fell prey to this fake news and propaganda without any credible evidence.”
The ministry also placed blame on the KP government, which is ruled by the PTI and which, it said, “primarily orchestrated and logistically & financially sustained and supported” the protests in Islamabad.
“Alarmingly, PTI’s protest included violent and trained miscreant elements including many illegal Afghan nationals who spearheaded the riots and violent activities throughout the march. These miscreants, employed as violent vanguard, comprised of approximately (sic) 1500 hard core fighters working directly under absconder and proclaimed offender Murad Saeed. […] It must be noted that LEAs personnel, despite sustaining grievous injuries, exhibited [a] high degree of restraint against these violent protesters led by trained miscreants,” the statement noted.
One police officer and three Rangers personnel were killed, the ministry said, adding that “232 LEAs personnel were also grievously injured by these miscreants”. It also accused Gandapur, the provincial chief minister, of making “baseless inflammatory statements”.
According to a report, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also issued a statement the same day, saying a campaign was “orchestrated to discredit State of Pakistan in general and security forces in particular” and that “multiple domestic and foreign-based media platforms are being used to perpetrate concocted, baseless and inciting news implicating the government of committing serious human rights violations”.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International issued a statement on the reports it received of multiple deaths and mass arrests of demonstrators, with its deputy regional director for South Asia, Babu Ram Pant, calling “for a prompt, thorough, impartial, effective and transparent investigation into the deaths and injuries of protesters as well as the unlawful use of force including lethal and less-lethal weapons by security personnel”.
Soch Fact Check has not yet independently verified the claims by either the PTI or the government and their tallies of casualties comprising party workers and security officials, respectively.
Khan’s imprisonment
Khan has been incarcerated (archive) since 5 August 2023 over various charges, but he has either been acquitted or secured bail in some; the sentence for one charge has been suspended (archived here, here, here, here, and here, respectively).
Various international and local bodies have criticised the PTI founder’s continued detention. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed concerns (archive) over jail conditions and Amnesty International said (archive) it “found several fair trial violations under international human rights standards”, terming his imprisonment “arbitrary detention”.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has said in an opinion (archive) that Khan’s detention is “arbitrary and in violation of international law”, according to a report (archive).
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check observed that nearly all images, apart from the second one, look unnatural, as if they were glossed over or painted, indicating that they were created using either digital tools or artificial intelligence (AI).
Moreover, the blood depicted on the roads is too bright a shade of red. Considering that the raid to disperse PTI protesters took place at night, a picture from the morning would show darker blood that has dried off.
We also noticed multiple other elements — such as one-way roads, giant trees, highrise buildings, and the lack of the two Metro Bus lanes or its guard rails — in the viral visuals that do not match authentic photos of Jinnah Avenue on Google Maps and satellite imagery from Google Earth.
Let’s examine each of the six visuals.
Image 1
Soch Fact Check noticed that this visual contains a one-way road, whereas Jinnah Avenue is two-way. There are no Metro Bus lanes in the middle, while the giant trees and highrise buildings are uncharacteristic of the thoroughfare in question. The bright red colour and the amount of blood is also a giveaway.
One of the buildings on the right also appears to be melting away.
Furthermore, a picture of the road going towards the Red Zone should depict the sun diagonally towards the right side — northeast of the image — as it rises in the east. However, the sunlight in the visual in question appears to be coming from northwest of the photo as indicated by the shadows.
On the other hand, if the picture was taken in the direction away from the Red Zone, the sun would be behind the camera — southwest of the photo — and the shadows would be farther away from the subjects, towards the northeast of the image.
Interestingly, the blood depicted in the visual appears in a pattern, mostly in one direction, which would be impossible if a carnage of that magnitude did take place. The same red colour also unnaturally spreads to the treetops and the roofs of some of the buildings as well.
Image 2
The image features slightly-distorted figures on either side of the road, along with what appears to be a cut-off portion of a bus on the left, inconsistent reflections of the individuals in the foreground, and a flakey bridge towards the end.
Moreover, the left leg of the man on the right appears disfigured and the windows of the buildings on the left and right background are also inconsistent.
The argument about the blood colour mentioned above also stands and, even if the lane in the middle is assumed to be that of the Metro Bus’, the guardrails are inconsistent with the real ones.
Image 3
In this visual, too, the road is one-way, as opposed to the real Jinnah Avenue. Moreover, it is too narrow, as if it was a street, compared to the thoroughfare leading to the Red Zone, and does not have the Metro Bus lanes in the middle.
There is a hodgepodge of structures on either side and the arguments made above regarding the blood’s colour and amount, as well as the direction of the sunlight, apply here as well.
We also noticed a weird red reflection — as if from a light source — on the wall of the building on the right, which does not make sense. The red hue also spreads to other elements / subjects of the image.
Image 4
The road depicted in this visual is too narrow and one-way, which is not the case with the real Jinnah Avenue, and does not feature the Metro Bus lanes. Plus, Blue Area does not have as many buildings.
Moreover, the windows of the buildings on either side are quite messed up and we observed some ashy residue on their rooftops.
Once again, the aforementioned arguments about the blood’s colour and amount apply here as well.
Image 5
This visual, too, does not have the Metro Bus lanes in the middle and the fire in the background does not look real, rather digitally created. It also features too many structures on either side of the road, whereas the Blue Area does not have that many buildings.
The top part of at least five of the highest buildings are unclear, which, if authentic, would have shown details of the architecture and windows.
Image 6
In this visual, the buildings on either side of the roads appear to be almost identical, there is a road divider in the middle, without the Metro Bus lanes, and there are no trees at all — unlike the real Jinnah Avenue.
Moreover, the windows of the buildings on the left side appear to have merged or are missing entirely.
Cinematographer’s observations
We also spoke to Ibrahim Zauq, an Islamabad-based cinematographer at Soch Videos, a sister company of Soch Fact Check. He said the visuals “are AI-generated images of Blue Area” and that D-Chowk, where the protesters had gathered, connects Blue Area to the Red Zone, which houses important governmental buildings.
“There was no blood like this [as shown in the visual] there, nor are there such giant trees in the Blue Area,” he said, explaining that the road is two-way, not one-way, and that there are Metro Bus lanes in the middle — corroborating our findings above.
With regard to the second visual, he said it is important to note that there is no flyover on Jinnah Avenue as shown in the viral picture.
Zauq also mentioned that in the fifth image, “these flames in the sky also definitely are unreal”.
Authentic images by wire services, Google Maps
Photographs from wire services such as Reuters, AFP, and The Associated Press, as well as those available on Getty Images and sourced via Anadolu Agency, of the aftermath of the authorities’ operation against the PTI show no blood on the roads, but only damaged or burnt vehicles and torn posters that the protesters had brought.
Some of these can be viewed here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Moreover, multiple photos contributed by users on Google Maps also corroborate the points about the trees, the two Metro Bus lanes with its guard rails, and the buildings on either side of Jinnah Avenue. Some of the images and videos can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Results from AI detectors
We also ran the visuals through different AI detectors, such as Hive Moderation and Sightengine, to confirm if they are indeed AI-generated.
According to Hive Moderation, the probability that the visuals were created using AI are 97.6%, 99.8%, 53.0%, 91.5%, 62.8%, and 99.9% for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth images, respectively.
According to Sightengine, the probability that the visuals were created using AI are 62%, 87%, 99%, 99%, 99%, and 99%, respectively.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the first image shared here, here, and here on Facebook, here, here, and here on Instagram, here on TikTok, here and here on YouTube, and here, here, here, and here on X (formerly Twitter). It was also shared by the PTI and Zartaj Gul Wazir, a party leader and former federal minister, on Instagram.
The second visual was shared here, here, and here on Facebook, here, here, and here on Instagram, here, here, and here on X, and here on YouTube. Gul, the ex-minister, also posted it here.
The third photo was posted here on Facebook, here on TikTok, here, here, and here on YouTube, here in an article, here in a Change.org petition, here on Instagram, here on X, and here and here on Bluesky. It was also shared on Instagram by the PTI and Murad Saeed, a party leader and former lawmaker.
The fourth picture was posted on TikTok here.
The fifth, on the other hand, was shared here on TikTok, and here and here on Bluesky.
The sixth visual was shared here on TikTok.
Multiple social media pages have used the first image in the background of their reports; some of these can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: All the images in question are AI-generated, as indicated by multiple tell-tale markers. Certain factual inaccuracies also revealed that the visuals in question do not show Islamabad’s Jinnah Avenue, where the protest took place.
Background image in cover photo: PTIOfficial
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com