Viral video of ‘Pakistani aircraft shot down in Amritsar’ actually shows Hezbollah rockets targeting Israel

by Shinjinee Majumder

Even as tensions eased slightly on May 12 after military strikes between India and Pakistan over the previous couple of days, unverified images and videos claiming to be related to the conflict continued to flood social media. Among them is a video of hovering lights and bright flashes in the night sky that is being shared as Indian S-400 surface to air missiles intercepting Pakistani JF-17 and J-10C fighter aircraft over Amritsar.

A fortnight after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam had killed 26 people, Indian armed forces in the early hours of May 7 launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine sites in Pakistan and PoK from where attacks against India had been planned and directed. The Union ministry of defence described the action as “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”, with no Pakistani military facilities having been targeted. Late on May 7, reports came in of heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan on forward villages along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu and Kashmir killing at least 16 civilians. They also attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India including in Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot and Amritsar, among other places, using drones and missiles. These were neutralized by India’s integrated counter UAS grid and air defence systems. Subsequently, the conflict escalated rapidly on May 9 and 10, with Indian armed forces targeting air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan in a proportionate response, and neutralizing the air defence system in Lahore.

Sharing the video in question, X user Tathvam-asi (@ssaratht) wrote on May 8, “India’s S-400 taking good care of Amritsar 😍🔥At least two JF-17 and one J-10C went last night. #OperationSindoor #Sialkot #IndiaPakistanWar”. (Archive)

Several other X users amplified the claim. (Archives- 1, 2)

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Fact Check

Upon a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, we found that the official X handle of the state government of Israel had tweeted the video on August 4, 2024. According to the caption, the visuals show a barrage of Hezbollah rockets fired at Israeli communities.

Several other pro-Israel accounts had also shared the video at the same time. One can see them here and here.

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As it stands, a 2024 video of Hezbollah rockets being fired at Israeli communities has been circulated by social media users with the misleading Indian missiles shooting down Pakistani aircraft near Amritsar.

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About the Author

Student of Economics at Presidency University. Interested in misinformation.