As Indian defense forces effectively targeted 9 high-value terror spots in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under 'Operation Sindoor,' a flood of misinformation poured in from Pakistani government sources and media organizations, trying to twist the narrative of India's counter-terrorism operation.
Various Pakistani government-owned media organizations and social media handles started spreading unconfirmed and false reports in the hours that followed the surgical strikes.
Most of these were promptly debunked as false by independent commentators and India's official fact-checking infrastructure.
One of the most glaring falsehoods was the assertion that Pakistan had retaliated with missile attacks on 15 targets on Indian soil.
A number of other tweets falsely claimed that the Srinagar Airbase was attacked by the Pakistan Air Force and that an Indian Army Brigade Headquarters was destroyed.
These assertions were propagated aggressively on X, particularly by the accounts of considerable size related to Pakistan's military media operation, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Nevertheless, no evidence from visuals or satellites was available to support any of these assertions. Official checks indicated that much of the evidence being used in favor of this misinformation was unrelated as well as outdated.
"In a video posted by some pro-Pakistan handles, it is being misleadingly reported that the Pakistan Air Force has attacked Srinagar airbase. The shared video is an old one and NOT Indian. The video is from sectarian fights that occurred in 2024 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Use only the official Government of India sources for verifiable information," the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit tweeted on X.
In a different post, the PIB Fact Check stated, "Social media reports falsely state that Pakistan destroyed Indian Brigade Headquarters. This is FAKE. Don't share unverified news, and use only authentic sources from the Government of India for correct information."
Various images and videos circulated in the aftermath of the operation were subsequently proven to be either digitally manipulated from unrelated previous occurrences or old archived footage reused in order to develop a false illusion of retaliation.
In spite of the obvious lack of substantiation, these falsehoods were being propagated by some mainstream Pakistani media outlets, signaling a concerted effort to manage the post-operation narrative and present a retaliatory stance.
The Indian government called on citizens and the media to use only validated information released by official sources.