Claim: A video shows clashes between security forces and Pakistan Tehreek Insaf’s (PTI) supporters in Islamabad in October 2024.
Fact: The video is from Bangladesh when student-led protests were held against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, leading to her ouster.
On 5 October, X user @RealBababanaras shared (archive) four videos apparently showing clashes between PTI supporters and Islamabad Police. The user wrote: “BREAKING: Civil war-like situation in Pakistan. Pakistan Army has taken control of Islamabad, Lahore and many other cities after intense clashes between police and PTI supporters.”
The post speculates that the footage shows clashes between the security forces and PTI supporters. Though clashes took place amid the protests, Soch Fact Check verified that the first out of the four videos shared in this post has no connection with the recent protests in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Islamabad Protests
On 4 October, PTI’s supporters rallied to Islamabad to demand the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was jailed in August 2023 on several charges, but most of his convictions have been overturned or suspended.
The police barricaded the capital with shipping containers, shelled, and fired teargas, while the authorities cut off cellular services to prevent the protesters from gathering at D-Chowk.
Dozens of protesters circumvented the barriers set by the authorities to attend the demonstration and chanted “Release Imran! Release Imran!” according to a report by Reuters.
The protests were held ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 2024 Summit, which was held from 15 to 16 October in Islamabad. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the event, which marks the first visit by a Chinese premier in 11 years. India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar also attended the event.
A protest was also scheduled on 15 October, coinciding with the summit, but the PTI’s leadership called it off after getting assurances from the government to allow the medical check-up of Khan.
On 15 October, two doctors visited Khan who confirmed he was “in good health,” according to Barrister Gohar Khan, who is currently the chairman of PTI.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the first video and found it is from Bangladesh.
On 6 August, an Instagram user “chota_emon” posted (archive) a video with the caption “Bangladesh Army 🇧🇩❤️.” While the footage seems to have been recorded from different devices, we can see the same overhead bridge behind the firing soldiers in the video on Instagram as well as the one in the claim.
A Reddit user also posted a video from August, titled “The army celebrates with the crowd after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigns and flee the country.” The location of the clashes in this video appears to be the same, mainly as the overhead bridge visible in the background of the video in question can be seen in this video as well.
Both the Reddit and Instagram posts were shared in August, confirming that the video in question predates the Islamabad protests held earlier this month.
Moreover, Soch Fact Check found matching clips on YouTube from August 2024 that also linked the footage to protests in Bangladesh.
Nationwide protests in Bangladesh began in July and lasted for weeks, bringing an end to Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. The former prime minister fled the country, and an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was set up.
The protests demanded an end to the quota system which dated back to 1971 and “reserved one-third of government jobs for descendants of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War veterans.”
The subsequent crackdown by the authorities and the clashes left at least 300 people dead.
For further confirmation, we geolocated the footage to coordinates 23.8074164, 90.3684507, which showed the video from the claim was captured near Mirpur 10 subway station on Begum Rokeya Avenue in Bangladesh. A visual comparing the street shown in the video with its image on Google Maps is given below:
On the left is a scene from the original clip. On the right, a geolocated street view on Google Maps.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, concludes that the video showing armed soldiers clashing with demonstrators has no connection to the recent protests by PTI supporters in Islamabad.
Virality
The X post garnered 44K views and was liked 947 times.
It was shared on X here too, which was viewed 44K times and was liked 581 times.
Conclusion: One of the four videos in an X post does not show clashes between security forces and PTI protesters in Islamabad. It is from August 2024 when massive student-led protests were held against Sheikh Hasina’s regime in Bangladesh.
Background image in cover photo: Business Recorder
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