FACT CHECK: Masood Azhar 'killed' story not true; scammers peddled old video

The viral video that surfaced on social media about the 'alleged death' of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar was found to be old. Once again, scammers have spread false news by circulating the false video of a blast to make people believe that the JeM chief was killed. As Azhar is wanted in numerous terror attacks in India and also in Kandahar hijack case, the fake news caught the internet by storm yesterday.

Hyderabad/Delhi: Internet was flooded with rumours about the death of Masood Azhar, chief of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad yesterday. These reports turned out to be false. The viral video of a blast in which Masood Azhar was allegedly killed was found to be old and relating to death of a religious figure but not Azhar. Scammers targetted JeM chief Masood Azhar, who is wanted in numerous terror attacks in India and he was also involved in the 2001 Parliament attack case.

The scammers used a picture to show Masood Azhar as having been injured. But this picture was found to be that of religious scholar Maulana Muhammad Amin who was critically injured in a firing raid carried out by unknown assailants in Barkambakhel area, Bara, Khyber tribal district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Informed netizens have taken to social media to expose the false news about the death of Azhar.

Yesterday's rumours spread after a post on X, formerly Twitter, attached a video of the 'old blast' and said: "New Year Gift from Unknown Man. BIG BREAKING NEWS. As per unconfirmed reports, Most wanted Terrorist, Kandhar hijacker Masood Azhar has been kiIIIed in bomb expIosion by UNKNOWN MEN at 5 am." The unconfirmed reports about the terror chief's death circulated on social media widely and took the internet by storm.

Netizens also raised questions how could there be a clear sky at 5 am as seen in the blast video as Pakistan's climate is similar to North India and visibility is poor till 11 am. One respondent termed the video as concerning a blast that took place way back in 2019.

Masood Azhar's terror outfit was involved in the Pulwama terror attack case. India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) prepared a 13,500-page charge sheet in the Pulwama attack case, named JeM chief Masood Azhar as one of the accused. The Pulwama terror attack was carried out in Jammu and Kashmir by a suicide bomber resulting in the death of 40 CRPF personnel on February 14, 2019.

Masood Azhar is a UN-designated terrorist for whose arrest Pakistan has been under increasing international pressure. Following this, Islamabad had written to Afghanistan seeking arrest of the JeM chief.

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