Claim: A video on social media claims that it shows cross-firing between two groups in the Wadh area of the district of Khuzdar, Balochistan.
Fact: The video is shared in a misleading context. The incident of the fire exchange happened in North Waziristan and is unrelated to the security condition in Khuzdar.
On 19 July 2023, popular journalist Hamid Mir tweeted a video which he later deleted with the Urdu caption, translated into English reads, “The situation has become very tense in Wadh area of Khuzdar, Chief Minister of Balochistan and other organizations should talk to the parties themselves for a ceasefire here.”
On 19 July, Wadh in the district of Khuzdar, a gun battle started between the armed men of BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal and Shafiq Mengal, during which both sides used heavy weapons and the area suffered an armed conflict. Seven people were injured, and private and public buildings were damaged. The fighting ended on Friday night after the mediating efforts headed by Nawab Aslam Raisani.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the matter, Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on the video keyframes. The results showed a post published on 16 June 2023 by The Khorasan Diary – a news platform covering conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The post reads, “Officials from North Waziristan tribal district report an extensive Fire Raid by militants on a security force camp in the district’s Hassukhel area. No loss occurred in the attack. In the video, security forces can be seen carrying out a retaliatory attack.”
However, TKD mentioned that the video is file footage unrelated to the June 2023 incident. Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud – Director of News at The Khorasan Diary confirmed to Soch Fact Check that the video is old and does not show clashes in Wadh. He shared exclusive footage from Wadh and the two footage show different areas and backgrounds.
To investigate further, Soch Fact Check conducted a keyword search and found the same video on the Telegram app. The video was also posted on 16 June and referred it as an attack in North Waziristan. The same video was also posted on Twitter here and here on the same day.
Soch Fact Check, through the investigation, found that the video is not from Balochistan. However, the origin of the video could not be traced independently.
Virality
Before deletion, Hamid Mir’s tweet received 78.7k views and 1,000 likes. It was also shared here on Twitter.
On Facebook, the misleading video was shared here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video shared as clashes in Wadh is old and not related to the incident.