Fact Check: Viral image of destruction due to bombing is not from Waziristan but Lahore
Three people were killed and 22 others were injured in a suicide attack in Mirali subdivision of the north Waziristan tribal district, Northwestern Pakistan. This attack was carried out on security forces that were escorting a local petroleum company convoy.
Three people were killed and 22 others were injured in a suicide attack in Mirali subdivision of the north Waziristan tribal district, Northwestern Pakistan. This attack was carried out on security forces that were escorting a local petroleum company convoy. The Pakistani Taliban – Tehrik– e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, an image of a destructed vehicle during bombing is going viral on social media with a narrative that it is from the recent suicide bombing that took place in Waziristan.
The claim shared with the image is “Fidayeen attack on Pakistan Army convoy in Waziristan; More than 20 Fatalities and Casualties”
Several other Twitter users have shared the same image claiming it to be the recent suicide attack on an Army vehicle in Waziristan.
Fact check:
The claim that the image shows remnants of suicide bombing in Waziristan is false.
When we performed Google reverse image search on the image, we found that it was from May 2009, when massive bomb blast ripped through Lahore.
According to punjabics.com, on May 27, 2009, a van carrying high–intensity explosives hit a police checkpost outside the offices of the Rescue- 15 and the Inter-services Intelligence on Lawrence road killing 26 people and leaving 251 injured.
The article shared the same image as that in the viral pic.
The same image was shared by Wall Street journal, along with several other images in the article ‘Bomb blast rips through Lahore’ on May 27, 2009.
According to Rediff news, suspected Taliban militants on Wednesday brazenly targeted the provincial headquarters of the Inter-services Intelligence in Lahore, detonating an explosive-laden car, leaving at least 35 people dead and over 250 wounded.
Though heavily armed militants, believed to be two to four in number, failed to reach the main premises housing the ISI office, they detonated the explosives, which damaged the building and totally flattened the nearby city police rescue office.
The terrorists headed their vehicle towards the two buildings located just off Mall Road, but as heavily armed guards stopped them, they came out and exchanged fire with the guards, before setting off a massive blast.
Hence, the viral image shared is from blasts that took place in Lahore in May 2009 and not from a recent suicide bombing in Waziristan, Pakistan. The claim is false.