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FACT CHECK: Hotel was not attacked in Islamabad, videos are unrelated and AI generated
Indian and Afghanistan based social media accounts shared the news that a luxury hotel has been attacked in Islamabad by the Afghanistan resulting in the death of Pakistan soldiers.
The claims after made after the recent border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan that has resulted in casualties on both sides. The two countries have reached a ceasefire and agreed to end hostilities.
Fact Check Pakistan has found the news is completely fake and fabricated and there are no reports of an attack at a hotel in the federal capital.
An Afghanistan based digital outlet, Kabul Frontline, shared a video on October 17 with a brief caption, “Latest Situation in Islamabad” with the hashtag #PakistanAfghanistanWar. The video shows a huge explosion at an undisclosed location.
An Indian social user shared a post with the caption, “Marriott and Grand Hyatt hotel of Pakistan are under attack,” equating the incident to Mumbai attack.
Fact Check Pakistan has determined that video is old and unrelated. The actual video shows the aftermath of an explosion at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai, UAE, in 2021.
The video was posted on Aurora Intel dated 08 July, 2021. A closer look shows the video is the same as posted by the social media users claiming an attack on a hotel.
Several India-based social media accounts also shared another post with a video that a hotel in Islamabad was attacked.
A social media user posted, saying, “Visuals are coming from Islamabad Grand Hyatt hotel after the attack of Taliban.”
Another posted, “Carnage in the capital of Pakistan. Islamabad’s MertHotel turned into a warzone. At least 12 Pak Army soldiers eliminated on home turf and the battle rages on.”
Fact Check Pakistan has determined the news is false. There are no reports of any such attack in any section of the media. It must be noted that the name of Marriott is misspelled as Mert while there is no Grand Hyatt hotel in Islamabad.
The video shared is deep fake and AI-generated. This is evident from voice inconsistencies, background, and other distortions.
Fact Check Pakistan concluded that the reports of an attack at a hotel in Islamabad is baseless.
