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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about war & conflict. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,848 published reviews in this topic

BBC HindiWar & conflict

A Facebook Live by popular YouTuber Avi Dandiya in which he claimed that the BJP had planned the Pulwama attack in an attempt to win the 2019 elections has gone viral. In the video, he presented an audio clip of alleged conversation between Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP Chief Amit Shah and an unidentified woman, where they seem to plan the attack on a convoy of paramilitary forces in Pulwama, Kashmir. BBC Fact Check Team found that his claims are false. The audio clip appears to be doctored with voices from different interviews picked and merged to make it seem like a conversation of deliberate attempts to do such an attack.

Publisher’s rating: False Audio

FACTLYWar & conflict

రాహుల్ గాంధీ : ‘ యు.పీ.ఏ ప్రభుత్వం కూడా సర్జికల్ స్ట్రయిక్స్ మరియు ఎయిర్ స్ట్రయిక్స్ చేయించింది కానీ అవి ప్రజలకు బహిర్గతం చేయలేదు. చివరికి భారత ఆర్మీ మరియు వాయు సేనకి కూడా.’

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLYWar & conflict

Pakistan Army Chief: “Masood Azhar is not dead, he is alive in our hearts”.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a Facebook post attributing the words “Masood Azhar is not dead, he is alive in our hearts” to Pakistan Army Chief Bajwa. FACTLY’s review says the post was being shared by many users and identifies the question it investigated as whether the Pakistan Army chief had made that comment about Jaish-e-Mohammed’s founder and leader. To check the attribution, the review says it searched Google for statements attributed to Bajwa and found a link to a post by “Limes of India.” It then examined the account’s Twitter description, which said the page posted only fake tweets. The review concludes that the account was a parody source posting satirical content, so the viral post should not be treated as a genuine statement by the army chief. The decisive evidence described in the excerpt is therefore the provenance of the claim: it came from an account that identified itself as posting fake tweets, rather than from a verified statement by Bajwa. FACTLY concludes that the post was a satirical take, not an authentic comment about Masood Azhar.

The QuintWar & conflict

Video of Indians rejoicing as clip of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan returning to India plays on a big screen

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The Quint investigated a video presented as showing Indians cheering while a large screen played scenes of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being handed over from Pakistan to India on 1 March 2019. The article describes people shouting, jumping and throwing food into the air, and says the video was posted on Twitter by Akshay Singh. The review concluded that the screen footage had been added to the crowd video: it appeared to wobble and move independently from the television as the clip played. [S1] The investigation traced the crowd footage using its visible “Sparta Yoshi” logo. A YouTube search for “Crowd cheering + Sparta Yoshi” led to a video uploaded on 30 November 2018, in which the crowd cheered as a DVD logo bounced around the screen—not as Abhinandan returned to India. The Quint then reports that reverse-image searches of keyframes led to a Reddit discussion and, after another YouTube search, to footage published on 16 June 2016. Its description identified the setting as Ashton Gate stadium and the celebration as fans reacting to Daniel Sturridge’s late winning goal for England against Wales at Euro 2016. [S1] Together, the visible alteration and the older source footage show why the clip does not establish that the crowd was celebrating Abhinandan’s return. The review says the original crowd scene was modified to replace what appeared on the screen; the cheering itself came from a different event. [S1]

FACTLYWar & conflict

IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan’s wife requests the Modi government not to play politicize the sacrifices of the soldiers

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined a Facebook video presented as a message from Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan’s wife to the Modi government. The specific claim was that she asked the government not to politicize soldiers’ sacrifices. The review’s central finding was that the woman in the video was not Abhinandan’s wife: “The woman shown in the video is not IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan’s wife.” The review identifies the woman as Sirisha Rao. It reports that Boom Live used advanced searches to identify her and contacted her to confirm she was the person in the video. It also notes that the woman described herself in the video as the wife of an Indian Army officer, whereas Abhinandan was an Air Force wing commander. On that basis, the video did not support attributing the message to his wife. The review further reports that Rao clarified on Twitter that her identity had been forged. Its conclusion addresses the attribution of the video: it was shared as Abhinandan’s wife speaking, but the review says the woman shown was someone else. The supplied excerpt does not provide the video’s original provenance or further details about Rao’s Twitter clarification.