Claim: A video shows people carrying coffins of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters who were killed in clashes with the law and enforcement agencies during protests that erupted after former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest.
Fact: The video is, in fact, from 4 May 2023, when eight people were killed in separate incidents of firing in the Parachinar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district.
Fact or Fiction?
On 12 May 2023, Twitter user @FawadkhanDir shared a clip with the claim that it shows PTI supporters who were killed during clashes with law enforcement agencies during protests that erupted following Imran Khan’s arrest.
The photo is accompanied by the following caption:
“خان کی رہائی ان شہدا کی قربانیاں ہے ان کو کبھی نہیں بھول سکتے کبھی نہیں [Imran Khan’s release is a result of the sacrifices of these martyrs, they can never be forgotten].”
A reverse image search of keyframes of the viral video led us to a TikTok video by @muhibbaneali. It is captioned, “7 Shia brutally Killed in Parachnar 😭 #parachnar #parachnarkilled #parachanar #foryou #foryoupage #shia #shiakilled #ahlebaitlover #karbala.”
Taking a cue from this, Soch Fact Check searched Google with the keywords “Parachinar 7 killed” and came across a report by Dawn which stated that at least eight people were killed in separate incidents of firing in the Parachinar area of Kurram tribal district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 4 May 2023.
The police said that the first person, a teacher, was killed in the shooting incident that took place on a road near the Shalozan area, and seven teachers in the second at Teri Mengal School.
Many publications, including Reuters and Samaa, reported on the incident. Reuters stated in its article that the second incident killing six Shia Muslims, appeared to be retaliation for an attack shortly before on a Sunni Muslim teacher.
Virality:
As of writing time, the tweet by @FawadkhanDir was viewed by 347,900 people and garnered 11,900 retweets, 286 quote tweets and 22,200 likes.
Conclusion: The video in question is unrelated to protests sparked by Imran Khan’s arrest across the country. In fact, it shows the last rites of eight people who were killed in the Parachinar incident on 4 May 2023.