Fake claims, old pics: Pakistan intensifies misinformation after India's Operation Sindoor

Following India’s military strike on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir under Operation Sindoor, Islamabad has intensified its wave of misinformation through Pakistani media and its affiliated accounts in social media.

Soon after New Delhi successfully carried out Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists in April, several Pakistani media outlets and other accounts started posting unverified claims that have been reported to being misinformation by many independent fact-checkers.

Several accounts on X claimed that India has confirmed Pakistan Air Force shooting down Indian Air Force jets in response. However, independent fact-checkers including India’s Mohammed Zubair pointed out that the claims are being made by fake accounts, which are using old, unrelated or concocted images.

Some of the posts also claimed that Pakistan launched an attack targeting 15 locations in India. While some others claimed that the Air Force base in Srinagar has been hit by Pakistan without providing any credible evidence. Independent experts pointed out that these claims were not true.

Most of the accounts spreading these fake claims are aligned with Pakistan’s military media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).