Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar was a busy man today. He spoke to the media around 7 am and spun several tales of valour to counter India’s Operation Sindoor.
Hours later, he proved to be Pakistan’s misinformation minister.
Tarar said that India had waved a white flag at the Line of Control and “accepted defeat”. He said this as footage of a white flag played in the background, reported Dawn.
“They have been forced to wave a white flag,” Tarar said. PTV News also shared footage of a white flag hoisted seemingly on top of a structure. A report from Samaa TV also claimed that India “hoisted White Flag to accept defeat.”
The location? The “Chora Complex” along the Line of Control—which, doesn’t show up on any Indian maps, reported The Week.
Tarar gave war updates faster than missiles.
He claimed the Pakistani military has brought down five Indian jets.
Tarar confirmed the downing of two Indian jets around 2:45am after Pakistan responded, while the confirmation for the third plane, a Rafale aircraft, came an hour later. Confirmation of the fourth and fifth Indian jets being taken down came after 5am by Tarar.
Soon, photos of an Indian Air Force MiG-29 crash went viral, with the claim that Pakistan shot it down. There's just one issue: the plane crashed last year.
“The image is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, in September 2024,” corrected PIB Fact Check.
PIB’s reaction: “If you come across any post stating that the ‘Pakistan Air Force has shot down two Indian Aircraft’ with the pictures that we are providing below, know that it is FAKE.”
Then some social media handles circulated a video of an attack on the Srinagar Airbase, hailing it as retaliation for India’s Operation Sindoor. It’s a video from 2024, showing clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Another viral post declared that Pakistan attacked the Indian Brigade Headquarters. PIB again said it was fake.
Many users shared a clip showing a missile hitting a target and passed it off as footage from Operation Sindoor. But it was from Iranian missiles hitting Israel last year.
Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair warned users to watch out for fake Pakistani accounts pretending to be Indian Army officers.
Zubair said, "Several Pakistani media outlets including Samaa TV and Pakistan Today reported that there was a mutiny in the Sikh regiment of the Indian Army. They claimed that 5 Sikh soldiers were killed after a clash between Hindu and Sikh soldiers. This is fake news."
PIB has a request: “Please avoid sharing unverified information and rely only on official sources from the Government of India for accurate updates.”
