Media, journalists share old images as aftermath of Kabul airport blasts

by Priyanka Jha

On August 26, Kabul was rocked by two blasts outside the airport. According to reports, more than 100 people died in the bombing attacks and many of the injured have been hospitalized as the death toll continues to rise. Social media was flooded with visuals of the aftermath of the blasts.

Against this backdrop, AFP journalist Uzair Rizvi pointed out that Republic TV shared an old image taken on August 16 as a scene from the time of the blast near Kabul airport.

We noticed that in addition to Republic TV, Zee News, Times Now, India Today, and Republic Bharat also aired this photo as scenes from the ground following the attack. In fact, three old images were being shared as Kabul after the explosions. Zee News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary had also shared a few images as the latest visuals from the blasts.

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First image

We were able to locate this image on the website of AFP. The related information states that it shows Afghans waiting to leave the country on August 16 at Kabul airport.

Second image

This photo is also available on AFP’s website and was taken on August 16. Both photos were taken by AFP photographer Vakil Kohsar.

Third image

We performed a reverse image search and found the original photo in a 2015 news story. This picture is of a blast outside an airport in Kabul in July 2015. It was tweeted by an Afghan news agency in August 2015.

Sudhir Chaudhary later clarified in a tweet that the images he had shared in the aftermath of the recent bombings were actually old.

First video

News18 journalist Ravindra Singh shared a video of scenes from Kabul after the second blast near the airport. It had amassed more than 64,000 views at the time of writing.

News18 Odia also aired this clip. (Archive link)

Furthermore, several other handles promoted the video and the accompanying claim including India.com, Baaghi TV anchor Ali Raza, Chandrakant Shinde, @FORCE_OFJUI, and @dark_knoght to name a few.

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Alt News noticed that a user had replied to the aforementioned tweet by journalist Ravinder Singh that the video appears to be from Gaza.

Using this information, we found many other such posts wherein the clip had been shared as Gaza. All of these had been uploaded on August 22, 2021. Therefore, this video, which has existed online since August 22, cannot possibly show the on-ground visuals from Kabul on August 26. Gaza youth activist @Abuabraa2110198 posted this video on August 22, calling it an attack by Israel.

Momen Faiz, a Gaza-based journalist, and a Palestinian media organisation also posted the video on August 22. Apart from this, another media platform published a report on August 22 describing the scene in the video as that of Gaza.

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Mint Press News posted this video on Facebook on August 24, describing it as an attack on several locations in Gaza.

Breaking News: Israel bombing civilians in Gaza

💥BREAKING NEWS💥

Deafening silence by the media on Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaigns on residential areas is predictable… nothing to see here folks 🙄

Posted by Mint Press News on Monday, August 23, 2021

Second video

Zee Hindustan journalist Preeti Negi tweeted a video of scenes from Kabul airport, which garnered 48,000 views.

A handle named @GeopolUpdates also shared this footage. (Archive link)

In a reply to Negi’s tweet, Alt News editor Ketan pointed out this is a five-year-old video from Iraq.

The clip was uploaded on YouTube on April 26, 2016. According to a report, terror outfit ISIS took responsibility for this blast in Iraq, which was carried out by a suicide bomber inside a vehicle.

To sum it up, numerous old pictures and videos are being shared as scenes from the ground following the recent explosions near Kabul airport. A number of media outlets also carried these visuals.

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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.