India Today, Aaj Tak run news on Ahmad Massoud based on fake Twitter handle

by Priyanka Jha

In a recent ‘breaking news’ segment, India Today claimed that Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Force of Afghanistan (NRFA), tweeted a photo claiming that a Pakistani Air Force fighter jet had been shot down in Panjshir. During the broadcast, the channel aired a tweet that showed a picture of a fighter plane. (Archive link)

 

Aaj Tak also reported, “Panjshir rebel leader Ahmad Massoud has claimed that Pakistani jets were shot down by Panjshir fighters.” The channel claimed that Massoud tweeted, “Pakistani jet plane shot down by our lion cubs. Resistance Panjshir.”

Hindi daily Hindustan made the same claim in a report.

According to Dainik Bhaskar, “Taliban fighters claimed victory over Panjshir on Monday. Meanwhile, Panjshir fighters and Northern Alliance forces have declared a rebellion throughout Afghanistan under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud.”

Fact-check

Replying to India Today’s aforementioned tweet, Pakistani journalist Hamza Azhar Salam said that the tweet which formed the basis for the report was posted by a fake handle. He added that this image was actually from 2018 and showed an American jet, not a Pakistani jet.

American outlets like ABC and Military.com had published reports carrying the photo in question in April 2018, describing it as a US F16 fighter jet that had crashed in Arizona. However, the pilot had not suffered any major injuries.

The handle which posted the tweet in question has now been deleted. However, some other photos shared by it confirm that this tweet was indeed fake and aired by outlets without verification.

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About the Author

She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.