Several mainstream Indian news outlets on Thursday aired old images and an old video of an airstrike as LIVE visuals of Kabul airport that was hit by deadly bomb attacks.
According to news reports, the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate has claimed responsibility.
Twin bomb attacks at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, targeted people desperate to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of the country. The death toll from the attacks is rapidly rising and is expected to cross 100 according to news reports. The toll includes mostly civilians deaths but also US military personnel.
The terror strike took place hours within warnings that an attack on the airport was imminent. The United States and other countries are racing against time and evacuating Afghans and other nationals ahead of the August 31 deadline.
As news of the blasts came in, mainstream Indian news outlets such as India Today, WION, Times Now, Republic TV, ZeeNews and News18 Bangla, used old photos of Kabul airport and an old video of an airstrike reported to be from the Gaza strip, as visuals streaming in from Afghanistan.
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The photo dated August 16, 2021, shows US soldiers standing guard as Afghan people wait at the Kabul airport, a day after the Taliban takeover of the city and the evacuation process by foreign countries that started after that. It can be seen in AFP's image archive (view photo above)
The same photo was aired by Indian news outlets including India Today, Times Now, Wion News, Republic TV, Zee News, and News 18 Bangla during their LIVE broadcast on the attacks on August 26, 2021. The channels did not use a visual marker such as a FILE key to indicate the image is not from Thursday's attack.
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The photo dated August 16, 2021, shows Afghans sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport after the fall of the city on August 15.
News channels including India Today and Times Now aired it, while the same photo was tweeted by Zee News during their coverage of the Kabul attack.
Video of an airstrike shown as Kabul attack footage
A video showing airstrikes in the night sky that is reported to be Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza strip was aired by Indian news channels falsely claiming to show footage of the blasts at Kabul airport. The same video can be found online days before the attacks in Kabul (see tweet above) The Associated Press has also fact-checked the same video and has said that it shows airstrikes in Gaza and not Kabul, Afghanistan.
News channels including India Today and News 18 Bangla aired the footage claiming it showed 'latest visuals' after the twin blasts at the airport. India Today later deleted their tweet.
BOOM is independently verifying the video. The story will be updated upon doing so.
BOOM has been debunking viral misinformation and disinformation since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. You can view our fact-check articles in the thread below.