French media report exposes Indian fake news against Pakistan: Fawad

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said a European TV channel has exposed fake news by Indian media regarding the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launching an offensive in Panjshir, Afghanistan.

In a tweet, the minister shared a video report of the TV channel France 24, which stated that Indian media picked up an unverified video clip from Afghan media and reported it as the PAF striking fighters opposed to the Taliban after their takeover of the country.

India’s Republic TV and Zee Hindustan aired footage from the video game Arma-3 and claimed that the visuals showed the PAF attacking the anti-Taliban fighters.

Fawad said Indian television channels Times Now, Naubharat and Zee Hindustan also used the same video to spread propaganda against Pakistan.

The minister added that India’s propaganda and fake news against Pakistan were now being exposed by international media.

Read: Brazen fake news leave Indian media red-faced

In September, the Taliban’s swift rise to power in Afghanistan and the feeble resistance to them in Panjshir Valley spawned a high volume of misinformation.

Some Indians also posted a picture of a crashed F-16 aircraft and claimed that it’s a PAF jet shot down in the Panjshir Valley by anti-Taliban forces. However, it turned out to be an old picture of a US airforce aircraft taken in 2018.