Claim: An image shows a child who was killed in recent deadly incidents of sectarian violence in Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Fact: The picture has no connection to sectarian violence in Kurram which erupted in November 2024. The image is from November 2016 when the US and Afghan forces carried out an operation against the Taliban’s commanders in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
On 24 November, an X user posted a photo (archive) allegedly showing an old man holding up a dead body of a toddler killed in the recent deadly sectarian violence in Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The caption reads [translated from Urdu], “The heart-rending scenes of the bloodbath played by the armed and trained terrorists of Zainabiyoun with Iranian support in Bagan are coming to light. This innocent child was killed and beheaded and then set on fire, one shudder to think. #SaveKurram”
The claim is speculating that the Zainabiyoun Brigade – a terrorist group backed by Iran – is behind the sectarian violence in Kurram. However, Soch Fact Check has not found any evidence indicating that this group is behind the recent sectarian violence in the Kurram region.
What’s happening in Parachinar?
On 21 November, gunmen opened fire on convoys of Shia pilgrims who were travelling from Parachinar in the Kurram district to Peshawar, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. At least 42 people, including women and children were killed by the gunmen, according to news reports.
Shia Muslim individuals then reportedly attacked the Bagan Bazaar in the Sunni-majority area, setting the market and homes on fire in retaliation.
This retaliatory attack against the Sunni population of the area, and the ensuing conflict between the two sides has killed at least 130 people as of 1 December.
Both sides agreed to a fragile seven day ceasefire on 24 November, brokered by an official government delegation, which was later extended for 10 more days.
Kurram district, which lies near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, has been long marred by sectarian violence over land disputes. Upper Kurram, where Parachinar is located, is the only region with a majority Shia Muslim population in Pakistan. Lower Kurram and Central Kurram are, however, predominantly Sunni-majority areas.
In July, tribal clashes over a land dispute killed at least 49 people and injured 200 others in the Kurram district. Similar clashes in September killed 46 and injured 91 people in the region.
In the past, the region witnessed the deadliest episode of violence between 2007 and 2012 that killed more than 2000 people, according to Al Jazeera.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found that it is from Afghanistan, dating back to November 2016.The image was published by several American news outlets.
Press Telegram, a Californian publication, carried this image in an article, titled “2 U.S. troops dead after Afghan raid that killed 26 civilians,” published in September 2017. The description accompanying the photo stated, “An Afghan man holds up the body of a child that was killed during clashes between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Kunduz province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016.”
In April 2019, Voice of America carried the same image in an article, titled “UN: Pro-Government Forces Kill More Afghans Than Insurgents.” The image was similarly dated November 2016 and captioned, “An Afghan man holds up the body of a child that was killed during clashes between Taliban and U.S.-backed Afghan security forces in Kunduz province, in northern Afghanistan.”
Finally, The Huntsville Item, a newspaper from Texas, published the image in November 2016, in an article about a joint operation by Afghan and US forces against Taliban commanders in Kunduz province. Washington-based newspaper The Seattle Times, also published the image in November 2016 here.
Soch Fact Check thus concludes the image in the claim has no connection to the recent sectarian violence in Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Virality
The image appeared on X here, here, and here.
On Instagram, the claim was shared here, here.
It appeared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
And here on BlueSky.
Conclusion: Image purportedly showing the dead body of a child has no connection to the recent episode of sectarian violence in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Instead, it is from November 2016 and shows the dead body of a child killed during an operation by Afghan and US security forces against Taliban in the Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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