Viral visuals falsely linked to Balochistan unrest show old truck fires and a building in Nigeria
The video of the torched trucks is old, while the video of the claimed mosque is from Nigeria. SCREEN GRAB FOM VIDEO
Several users, mostly pro-Afghan and pro-PTI accounts, have been sharing visuals across various social media platforms since November 10, 2026, allegedly showing trucks being set on fire and buildings with bullet holes from recent violence in Balochistan. However, the visuals are old and unrelated.
How it started
On Nov 10, a pro-PTI account, based on its past posts, shared a video on X allegedly showing a mosque in Balochistan, destroyed with bullet holes and heavy firearms.
The caption read: “The army destroyed a mosque in Balochistan using small arms and heavy weapons. The army claimed that an armed group used the mosque for training. Local residents say the mosque was never used for any armed group’s purposes.”
The video gained 141,101 views.
Former anchorperson and YouTuber Moeed Pirzada also shared the same video a few hours later with the caption: “Everything is justified in the broader national interest!”
His post garnered a total of 33,296 views.
Several other smaller accounts also shared the video clip here, here and here.
Similarly, on Nov 10, another video was shared by the same pro-PTI account mentioned above, allegedly showing a burning truck set on fire by armed groups in Balochistan’s Turbat, with the following caption: “Armed men set fire to trucks loaded with goods near Turbat in Balochistan.”
The video gained 82,974 views.
A pro-Afghan account later shared the same video with the following caption: “Armed men set several fully loaded trucks on fire near Turbat.”
The video was also shared by other smaller accounts here, here, here and here.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to verify the viral claim due to its virality and public interest in Balochistan’s security situation.
A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible media outlets in Pakistan had recently reported on any incident or ran visuals of a mosque being destroyed, but it yielded no results.
A reverse image search was conducted to trace the source of the viral video and yielded a clip shared on Facebook on September 21, 2026, by a Nigerian with the following caption: “This is Malam Fatori. Where Lt Col Abu Ali was killed. See what terrorists are doing in the Far North.”
The Observer Times, a Nigerian news publication, shared the same visual on Facebook on September 18, 2026.
The caption of the clip read: “This is a Central mosque of Mallam Fatori, where Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Abu Ali was killed in Mallam Fatori, a border town in the Abadam local government area of northern Borno State, Nigeria. This is a very dangerous Location”
The same visual was shared by a TikTok account on September 21, 2025.
A further reverse image search yielded an image of the building shown in the video.
The image was found in a blog post published on November 7, 2016, titled: “Photo of the building where gallant soldier, Col Abu Ali was killed by Boko Haram.”
The image from the blog post was compared with the building shown in the viral video, and both had similar architectural designs and structural features, along with bullet holes.
A keyword search yielded a report by BBC News, published on November 7, 2016, titled “Nigerians pay tribute to ‘war king’ killed by Boko Haram”.
The report stated that Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Abu-Ali, nicknamed “War King”, was among five soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in Mallam Fatori, Borno State, Nigeria. He was known for leading an operation to retake the town of Baga from the militant group and had been rapidly promoted through the military ranks.
As for the second video, a reverse image search yielded the same visual being shared by Voice of Makuran, a digital news channel, on October 7, 2026.
The caption of the post read: “Turbat: Unknown armed men opened fire on two trailer trucks in Nasirabad and then set them on fire.”
A keyword search yielded a report by The Express Tribune, published on October 8, 2026, titled “Three injured, two trailers torched in attacks”.
The report stated that armed men opened fire on two trailers parked outside a police station in Nasirabad, Turbat, before setting them ablaze. The attackers fled the scene, following which security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track them down.
Another report by Feature Pakistan, published on October 8, 2026, titled “Two trailers torched in Turbat, three injured in Gwadar grenade attack”
The report stated that armed men opened fire on two trailers parked outside a police station in the Nasirabad area of Turbat before setting them ablaze and fleeing the scene.
Fact-check status: false
The claim that viral visuals of trucks being set on fire and a destroyed mosque with bullet holes are from recent unrest in Balochistan is false.
The video of the torched trucks is old, while the video of the claimed mosque is from Nigeria.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan— a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
