Claim: A video shows Pakistan successfully testing a new missile Zarar III with a range of 7000 km after US sanctions.
Fact: The claim is false. The video is from April 2022 and shows the flight test of the surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-III, which covers a range of 2,750 kilometres, not 7000 kilometres.
On 20 December 2024, a Facebook page shared a video (archive) with an Urdu caption,
سب سے بڑی خوشخبری ۔۔۔
پاکستان نے بلیسٹک میزائل پر امریکی پابندی کے بعد آج بلیسٹک میزائل “ضرار تھری” رینج 7000 کلومیٹر کا کامیاب تجربہ کرلیا ۔
Translated [Big News… After the American ban on ballistic missiles, Pakistan successfully tested the ballistic missile “Zarar III” with a range of 7000 km].
The 13-second video shows a missile launching in the sky and men can be heard reciting ‘Allah o Akbar’ [God is great] in the background.
U.S. Sanctions on Pakistan’s Ballistic Missile Program
On 18 December 2024, the US State Department imposed a new round of sanctions on Pakistan’s state-run missile development agency and three private vendors for allegedly supplying equipment and technology to support ballistic missile development in Pakistan. The sanctions target specific businesses, freezing any US-based assets they hold and prohibiting Americans from engaging in transactions with them.
The sanctioned entities include the state-owned National Development Complex (NDC) in Islamabad and three privately owned companies: Akhtar and Sons Private Limited, Affiliates International, and Rockside Enterprise, all based in Karachi. The “fact sheet” by the U.S State Department reads “that it assesses NDC is responsible for Pakistan’s development of ballistic missiles, including the SHAHEEN-series ballistic missiles”.
On 19 December, Pakistan’s Foreign Office condemned the U.S. State Department for imposing new sanctions, calling the move “biased” and a “threat to regional and international peace”. The Foreign Office also accused the U.S. of “double standards,” citing its waiver of licensing requirements for advanced military technology to selected countries.
This is not the first instance of such measures. Previously, in October 2024, the US sanctioned Pakistani firms, alongside entities from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), over allegations of supporting weapons and drone development programs in Pakistan, Iran, and other countries.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check investigated the claim after it was shared by multiple users claiming it shows Pakistan testing a new ballistic missile called Zarar III after the US imposed the sanctions detailed above.
To investigate, we conducted a reverse image search on the video keyframes on Google Lens. The results led to an article published in Dawn News on 9 April 2022. The article titled, “Pakistan carries out successful flight test of Shaheen-III ballistic missile” reads that Pakistan successfully conducted a flight test of the surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-III which covers a range of 2,750 kilometres.
The article by Dawn also embedded an X (formerly Twitter) post shared by the official account of the military media wing, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR). The caption of the video reads, “Pakistan today conducted successful flight test of Shaheen-III surface to surface ballistic missile. The test flight was aimed at revalidating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system.”
The 31-second-long video version shows the same footage as that of the viral clip. It also shows men standing in front of the missile before the test launch and army personnel talking.
The same video was also posted on the ISPR’s YouTube channel on 9 April 2022 with the title “Press Release No 33/2022, Pakistan Conducted Successful Test of Shaheen-III – 9 Apr 2022”. According to the description, the launch was witnessed by Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, Director General Strategic Plans Division, Dr Raza Samar Chairman NESCOM, Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali Commander Army Strategic Force Command, senior officers from Strategic Plans Division, scientists and engineers of Strategic Organizations.
News outlets including The Express Tribune, Dunya News and NDTV India also reported on the same news in April 2022 and featured the same video, or stills from the same video, as that in the viral post.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check conducted an advance search on Google and could not find any reports or confirmation on a ballistic missile Zarar III. It is also to be noted that the highest-range ballistic missile of Pakistan till now is the SHAHEEN series which covers a range of 2,750 kilometres and can target locations in India. There are no official confirmations of a 7000 km missile test as of now.
Virality
On Facebook, the old video received 13,000 views, 380 likes and 73 comments. It was shared also here, here and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show the test launch of a new missile called Zarar III. The clip is originally from April 2022 and shows the test flight of the Shaheen III ballistic missile.
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Background image in cover photo: AFP
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