Claim: A video shows Pakistan Army pilots risking their lives to rescue stranded people affected by the August 2022 floods in Pakistan.
Fact: The video is not related to the August 2022 flood relief operations carried out by the Pakistan Army but is, in fact, from Afghanistan when a Mi-17 helicopter of the Afghan Air Force rescued people.
Fact or Fiction?
On 27 August 2022, Twitter user Ghazanfar Iqbal (@Ghazan0018) shared a video claiming that it shows Pakistan Army pilots rescuing people stranded as part of flood relief operations.
“Hats off to daring pilots of Pak Army who put their own lives at risk while rescuing stranded people. Rooters of these choppers are not cooling down as they continue to operate round the clock.#FloodsInPakistan #FloodinPakistan #Flood_NationalEmergency #ARMY #PakArmyRescueEfforts,” his tweet reads.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be misleading after coming across a reply from journalist Anas Mallick who reports on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He pointed out that the video is from Afghanistan.
A Google search with the keywords “afghan helicopter flood rescue people” led us to an article titled, “Flood in Afghanistan too, video of rescue operation by helicopter goes viral” published on 27 August 2022 by Pipa News.
The article states that the Afghanistan government and Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid shared a video of a helicopter rescuing people trapped because of the flood, after which the video which went viral on social media.
Mujahid tweeted the video on 27 August 2022 with a caption that translates to “The security forces of the Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] are using helicopters to rescue the flood victims” in English. He did not specify where and when the video was taken.
Soch Fact Check ascertained that the helicopter is a Mi-17 of the Afghan Air Force by closely looking at the emblem on it after comparing screenshots from the viral video with images of the aircraft available online.
This video is being shared in Pakistan in light of devastating floods, which have so far claimed the lives of nearly 1,600 people and impacted an estimated 33 million.
Virality
The tweet received 126,800 views, 1,381 retweets, 242 quote tweets and 4,033 likes.
On Facebook, the claim was shared here.
Conclusion: The video does not depict flood relief operations being carried out by Pakistan Army in August 2022 in Pakistan. In fact, it shows a Mi-17 helicopter of the Afghan Air Force rescuing people. It’s unclear when the video was taken.