A clipping from an interview of Aleema Khanum, sister of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, is going viral. It is being claimed that in the chat with Sky News, she alleged that Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir instigated the May 2025 conflict with India to strengthen his Islamic identity. Khanum is also being quoted as saying that selectively targeting Hindus in Pahalgam was part of Asim Munir’s plan. In the video, Aleema Khanum appears to be saying that that whenever Imran Khan comes to power, he always tries to build friendly relations with India and the BJP. But when Asim Munir comes to power, war with India is unavoidable.

X account Baba Banaras (@RealBababanaras), which amplifies disinformation and communal propaganda on a regular basis, shared the video with a similar claim. Similarly, several users, such as Major Sameer Pal, also shared the viral video with the same claim.

Several mainstream media outlets ran reports based on this viral video, claiming that Aleema Khanum, sister of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, had described Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir as a radical and Islamic fundamentalist who wants an all-out war with India. These include India TodayHindustan TimesABP NewsAaj TakDainik BhaskarNews18Zee News, among others.

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Pakistan defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif shared an article published by India Today based on the viral video. In the post, he targeted Imran Khan’s family, saying that they were desperate for power, which is why they were frustrated and taking help from the Indian media. 

Fact Check

On searching keywords related to the viral video, Alt News found an X post by Sky News dated December 3, 2025. The post contained a portion of an interview given by Aleema Khanum to Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim. The audio of the viral video and the video posted by Sky News clearly differs. Furthermore, it does not contain any of the claims made in the viral video.

Digging further, we found a longer excerpt of Aleema Khanum’s interview on Sky News’ website. This video also did not contain any of the claims made in the viral video. The full episode is available here. It’s clear that the original video has been doctored and edited, with audio added using artificial intelligence and lip-syncing using deepfakes.

Additionally, we found a report on Sky News’ website refuting the viral video. It states that the viral video was a deepfake created with the help of artificial intelligence. In the report, Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim stated that it was deeply disturbing that not only was the video shared thousands of times, but it was also carried by mainstream media across the subcontinent, with Pakistan’s defense minister reacting to it.

Quoting a user on X, Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim wrote that a deepfake video of her interview with Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, was being circulated. She clarified that there was no discussion about the Pakistan-India war.

To sum up, several users shared a deepfake of an interview given by Aleema Khanum, sister of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, to Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim, claiming that she described Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir as a radical and Islamic fundamentalist, and that Asim Munir orchestrated the May 2025 conflict with India to strengthen his Islamic identity. Mainstream media believed the video to be true and published reports based on it.

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About the Author

Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).