FAKE: Picture from Palestine shown as PTI protestors shot in Islamabad

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters faced off with security personnel across the federal capital as law enforcement agencies (LEAs) cleared out protestors in a late-night operation on Nov 27.

Social media was flooded with unverified reports that dozens of protestors had been shot dead by security forces. While the PTI claimed eight party workers had been killed and released their names, there were baseless claims that more than 100 people had been killed.

Subtitle for This Block

Title for This Block

Text for This Block

Singer Salman Ahmed, an ardent supporter of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan currently based in the United States, shared a picture purportedly of the dead workers in coffin shrouds and offered his condolences.

The picture was captioned, “Junoon sey aur ishq sey milti hai AZADI / Qurbani ki bahon mein milti hai AZADI (Inna lillah hai wainna alaihay rajeoon ), referring to the lyrics of his song ‘Junoon’.

Social media users were quick to point that the picture was not from Pakistan, but rather from Palestine. Upon realizing his mistake, he reposted the picture, saying, “Patwaris have to be congenital Duffers? The picture below and my poetry from Azadi is a metaphor for ULTIMATE“ Sacrifice” and “ Freedom”. No where have I identified the dead. Their  Sacrifice is REAL and UNIVERSAL.”

Fact Check Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to verify the authenticity of the picture. An X/Twitter post by Palestinian journalist Mahmoud Bassam, @Mahmoud_Bassam8, shared the same picture on Nov 1.

The picture was also posted on different social media sites including Threads, Facebook, and YouTube. Fact Check Pakistan concluded that the picture is from Palestine and not from Pakistan or related to the PTI protests in Islamabad.

What happened?

Over 60 people were injured during the clashes between PTI supporters and security forces. Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), one of Islamabad’s largest hospital, confirmed the death of two civilians and injuries to around 60 persons, including security personnel.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja has claimed that at least 20 people lost their lives during the party’s protest.

“At least 20 supporters of the PTI were killed in yesterday’s protest in Islamabad. We have complete bio-data and videos of eight of them,” the PTI leader said in a video statement. “And, details about the remaining others will be released to the media.”

Raja alleged that the former ruling party was being denied access to its workers receiving medical treatment at hospitals in Islamabad. He further accused that hospitals in the federal capital were being instructed to destroy relevant records and ordered not to provide families with the records of their deceased or injured relatives.

Interior Ministry denies claims

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi rubbished the PTI’s claims about casualties among its supporters during the security forces’ crackdown in the federal capital.

Naqvi termed social media reports claiming that 33 bodies were brought to a hospital as “propaganda” and challenged the former ruling party to provide the names of the deceased.

The Ministry of Interior issued a statement and claimed that no death has been reported. It said 223 personnel from LAEs got injured including 171 from the Punjab and 52 from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) during the protest march.