A video showing rows of coffins racked up thousands of views in X posts that falsely claimed it showed last rites for “130 soldiers” who died in separatist attacks in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. The footage in fact shows the coffins of police officers killed by a criminal gang days before the Balochistan attacks which left dozens dead.
The footage, which shows mourners lined up by rows of coffins, was shared in an X post on August 27 that attracted 117,000 views.
“130 Pakistan Soldiers Lost life in #OperationHerof,” reads text overlaid on the clip.
Separatist militants pulled passengers off buses, blew up a bridge and stormed a hotel on August 26 in coordinated attacks dubbed “Operation Herof” in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province (archived link).
The death toll included 34 civilians and 15 members of the security forces, while the military said troops killed 21 militants.
Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished Balochistan, but the attacks that took place in several districts throughout the province were one of the worst in the region’s history.
“Majeed Brigade of Balochs is a unique brigade,” says a man narrating the video, referring to a separatist militant group that has claimed attacks in the region.
“They carry out different kinds of attacks and when they go out for attacks, they tell their families they’re not coming back. This is the level of these people.”
The video made the rounds in similar X posts here and here.
However, the footage in fact shows the funeral of policemen killed in a rocket attack in Pakistan’s Punjab province four days before the Balochistan killings.
A reverse image search of the video and keyword searches found the clip posted in YouTube videos here and here from August 24 and 25 that said it showed “police martyrs” in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district (archived here and here).
At least 12 policemen were killed in Rahim Yar Khan on August 22 when a rocket launcher targeted their broken-down van (archived link).
Organised criminal gangs have been active in the riverine border areas of southern Sindh and central Punjab provinces for decades, often making money through kidnap-for-ransom assaults.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and in a YouTube about the rocket launcher attack (right):
An AFP photo of the policemen’s funeral, which was held on August 23, shows the same coffins, flowers, carpet and marquee (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in false posts (left) and AFP’s (right), with similarities highlighted.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered “immediate and effective action” against the attackers, his office said in a statement.
