BAJAUR – As reports of possible security operations in Bajaur surfaced, some residents from Mamund and nearby areas have begun moving to places they consider safer. 

Videos and photographs of this displacement have been widely circulated on various social media platforms. However, officials say that alongside authentic images, old and unrelated visuals are also being shared online.

One such image, showing an elderly woman seated in the trunk of a car, has gone viral, with social media users linking it to the reported displacement in Bajaur. 

For example, a Facebook page named “Bajaur Post” posted the photo with the caption: “Possible operation in Bajaur Mamund: An elderly woman forced to migrate helplessly to an unknown destination in a motor car.” The same image has been reposted by several other Facebook accounts and online users.

To verify the authenticity of the image and prevent unnecessary panic, a fact-check investigation was conducted using the online verification tool TinEye. 

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The tool scanned approximately 76.7 billion images and traced the photograph back to a Twitter (now X) account named Sadaat. 

The earliest was posted on July 23, 2021, with the caption: “What a tragedy and heartbreak. In Kandahar, 22,000 families were forced to migrate. Whether this was the hardest day for Afghanistan, we will never know, but the tears of this woman are priceless, carrying the grief of a war.”

This confirms that the elderly woman’s photo is unrelated to the current situation in Bajaur. It was originally taken in Afghanistan, showing her travelling towards Kandahar, and was first shared online in 2021.

Peshawar-based journalist Anwar Zeb, who specialises in fact-checking, told TNN that misinformation on social media is often spread when users upload and share news, images, and videos without verification, sometimes adding misleading captions. 

He warned that sharing outdated or unrelated visuals not only fuels unnecessary fear but can also create mistrust between the public and the authorities.

Anwar Zeb urged social media users to conduct online verification before posting or sharing any content to protect themselves and others from falling victim to false and unauthenticated information.