Claim: A screenshot shows Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur’s statement on the clashes at the Bannu peace march and he praised the armed forces for saving the area from major destruction.
Fact: The claim is misleading as the Chief Minister praised the armed forces in the context of the terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment which took place on 15 July, according to the Geo News report. It was shared before the Bannu peace march took place.
On 19 July 2024, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted an image (archive) with the caption,
لعنت ہو تمھاری زندگی پر. نہتے پرامن مارچ پر فوج نے فائرینگ کردی اور آپ مذمت کی بجائے بوٹ پالشی میں مصروف ہے مونګ پشتانه کم عقل یو چې تر اوسه مو پی ټی ائ نه وپیژندله
Translated [Curse on your life. The army opened fire on an unarmed, peaceful march and instead of condemning it, you are engaged in boot-polishing. We Pashtuns are foolish that we could not recognise the PTI till now”.]
The image in the post features a screenshot from a Geo News broadcast report which quotes Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur as saying: “Forces saved Bannu from major destruction”.
Bannu Incident
On 19 July, demonstrators took to the streets in huge numbers in the Bannu district, to oppose Operation Azm-i-Istehkam and demand peace and security against the surge in terrorism. The protest came in the wake of a terrorist attack which took place on 15 July in the Bannu Cantonment.
Local traders and political parties organised the Bannu Aman March (peace rally), where participants were seen waving white flags as symbols of peace. However, the situation escalated when clashes erupted between protesters and law enforcement agencies, leaving several people injured and at least one dead.
The violence was condemned by activists and human rights organisations, who urged for transparent action by provincial and federal governments. In a press conference on 22 July, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif, addressed the alleged firing by security forces and said that the army’s response to the Bannu violence incident was “as per SOP” as armed people in the march had attacked first.
Recently, after a meeting with the Bannu Peace Committee, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government launched a crackdown against armed groups in Bannu.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the claim, Soch Fact Check first checked official press releases and statements issued by the KP government and the CM Office in the aftermath of the clashes. We did not find any statement endorsing the armed forces’ actions at the Bannu peace rally.
A recent video statement issued by CM Ali Amin Gandapur, on the official YouTube channel of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), also did not include any such remark on the clashes at the rally. Moreover, the video shows him in a black t-shirt, and not in a white suit as shown in the viral image.
Soch Fact Check then scoured the YouTube channel of Geo News from 15 July – 24 July, where we found the statement from the viral claim in a Geo News headline that was aired at 3:00 PM on 16 July 2024. A similar statement and picture as that of the viral post can be seen at the 1:58 mark of the video.
According to this headline, the CM KP condemned the terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment, which took place on 15 July 2024. The Chief Minister reportedly praised the armed forces for saving Bannu from major destruction in the context of the terrorist attack. The same file image of CM Gandapur was also featured in the clip. The report also included statements issued by President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi who praised the Pakistan Army for their timely services and for saving Bannu from destruction during the terrorist attack.
Thus, Soch Fact Check confirms that the statement praising security forces, attributed to CM KP, was not about clashes at the Bannu peace rally. It was related to a prior terrorist attack and was reported before the peace march on 19 July.
Virality
On X, the post received 18,000 views and 490 likes. The archived versions can be seen here and here.
It was also shared here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: A screenshot of a Geo News bulletin which reported that s CM KP Ali Amin Gandapur praised the security forces for saving Bannu from major destruction is not related to the Bannu peace march. It was made days before the peace rally and is about the 15 July terrorist attack on Bannu cantonment.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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