Claim: Multiple images shared in a Facebook post claim that it shows images of Tablighi Jamaat members after they were attacked in the Winder area of Balochistan.
Fact: The claim is false; no attack took place in Winder. The same claim can be found online as early as 2019 and has been shared with different images over the years.
On 14 September 2023, a Facebook user posted multiple images with the following Urdu-language caption:
تبلیغی_جماعت پرحملےکی پر زور مذمت کرتےہیں
کل رات بلوچستان وندر کے علاقے میں تبلیغی جماعت پر حملہ ہوا ہے ۔پہلے سب ساتھیوں کی ڈاڑھیاں کاٹی گئیں پھر ڈنڈوں کینچیوں سے مارمار کر کسی کو شہید کسی کو شدید زخمی کردیا گیا
Translated [Strongly condemn the attack on Tablighi Jamaat. Tablighi Jamaat was attacked last night in Balochistan’s Windar area. First, all the comrades’ beards were cut, then they were beaten with sticks and scissors, and some were martyred and others were seriously injured.]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse image searched the pictures through Google Lens and found that the first image of dead bodies on the roadside and of people sitting beside them is from January 2021.
Stock image website Getty Images uploaded the image with the caption, “People and officials gather around the bodies of 11 coal miners, who were killed after armed men opened fire at them at the Balochistan, on January 03, 2021 in Quetta, Pakistan. The incident took place in the remote Mach area of the southwestern Balochistan province, a key route to multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). (Photo by Mazhar Chandio/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)”
The second image is of an injured man and the third image shows a man lying down with a bandage over his head. Soch Fact Check couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of these images. However, this image was available on the internet as early as 2019 and was used here in a WordPress article.
The third and fourth images of a man lying down with a bandaged forehead were posted on Facebook here back in 2021 with the same claim.
The claim that 11 members of the Tablighi Jamaat were attacked in the Winder area of Balochistan has been making rounds on social media since 2019. This claim was posted again in 2021 and then in 2022. The same images and claim were reshared again in September 2023 which raises questions about the authenticity of the images and incident.
Furthermore, Soch Fact Check further reached out to Asim Ahmed Khan, a freelance reporter for CNN from Balochistan. He spoke to AIG Operations Central Police Office Balochistan Abdul aq Umrani, who confirmed to Mr Khan that this claim and pictures are old and no recent incident took place. However, due to time constraints, he could not confirm in which year the incident actually took place.
Virality
The false claim was posted multiple times over the years on Facebook. The latest posts shared between 14 – 18 September 2023, can be seen here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The news of an attack on Tablighi Jamaat in Winder, Balochistan is false. The images shared are years old and the same claim can be found on social media as early as 2019.