Claim: Image shows Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s supporter holding a gun during the protests in Islamabad on 26 November.
Fact: Image shows a protester holding a gun during clashes between security forces and PTI supporters in May 2023 in Peshawar.
On 26 November, an X user posted a photo (archive) apparently showing a PTI supporter holding a gun amid the recent protests in Islamabad. The caption that reads “Peaceful protesters……?” speculates that a PTI supporter held a gun during the protests which were temporarily called off by the party in the early hours of 27 November.
PTI’s Islamabad protests
Thousands of Imran Khan’s supporters marched to Islamabad on 24 November to demand the release of the former prime minister, who has been in jail since August 2023.
The protest call from Khan, asking his supporters to demand his release, as well as the release of his supporters, came in early November.
Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers to block protesters’ entry into the capital while social media platforms faced disruptions amid the protests. According to news reports, security forces also fired teargas at the protesters.
The authorities arrested approximately 1,000 protesters as of 27 November. Some sources reported that clashes between security forces and demonstrators have killed eight, including four security personnel and four protesters, and several others have been injured. However, exact numbers of deaths and injuries are difficult to verify at this time due to the ongoing internet shutdown in the capital.
According to a recent report by The Guardian, authorities and senior government officials have attempted to suppress the total death toll and forcefully remove hospital records. “The doctor, who requested anonymity for his safety, said there had been an attempt to cover up any fatalities,” the publication reported. Official sources who spoke to The Guardian added that there have been 17 civilian casualties and hundreds more had been injured.
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement and mobile and internet services as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression,” said Amnesty International in a statement released on 26 November.
A crackdown by security forces dispersed protesters on Tuesday night, which was followed by the PTI calling off the protests “temporarily”, in the early hours of 27 November, citing that protesters were brutally injured by the law enforcement at D-Chowk.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found it is from PTI’s protest in May 2023 in Peshawar, when Imran Khan was detained by paramilitary forces on 9 May 2023.
The Frontier Post’s article, titled “PTI protests continue; 4 dead in Peshawar”, from two years ago carried this image as its cover. While the article doesn’t specify the date of the image, it clearly predates the ongoing protests in Islamabad.
A CNN report from 11 May 2023, also carried the photo, further down in the report. It is captioned “Protests took to the streets of several cities in Pakistan against the arrest of Imran Khan” and is credited to Hussain Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.”
We further conducted a keyword search and found the original Getty Images’ stock photo. The caption states: “Clashes continue between Pakistani security forces and supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) during a protest following former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest in Peshawar, Pakistan, on May 10, 2023.”
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes the image of a protester carrying a gun is not connected to the PTI’s November 2024 protests in Islamabad.
Virality
The X post was viewed 39,700 times and liked 406 times.
Conclusion: Image does not show a protester holding a gun during the November 2024 march by PTI in Islamabad. The image is from PTI’s May 2023 protests and shows a protester holding a gun during clashes with security forces.
Background image in cover photo: Al Jazeera
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