Govt debunks claims of suicide attack on Army brigade in Rajouri, other disinformation

The government on Friday dismissed claims of a suicide attack on an Army brigade in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and a drone attack in Punjab's Jalandhar by certain social media handles as "fake news". The Press Information Bureau's (PIB) Fact Check Unit found that there was no "fidayeen" or suicide attack on any Army cantonment in Jammu and Kashmir, while the video claiming to be that of a drone attack in Jalandhar pertained to a farm fire.

The district collector of Jalandhar has confirmed it to be disinformation, the PIB said.

"A total of seven videos were fact-checked between 22:00 hours on May 8, 2025, and 06:30 hours on May 9. A list of the fact-checked videos, along with their links, has been compiled," the PIB said.

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It found that an old video shared on social media claiming to be of Pakistan's missile attack on India was actually of an explosive attack that took place in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2020.

In another case, a video claiming the destruction of an Indian Army post by Pakistani forces was found to be fabricated. The Fact Check Unit verified that there was no such unit as the "20 Raj Battalion" in the Indian Army, as claimed in the video.

"A barrage of coordinated disinformation has been carried out by certain social media handles in general and mainstream media in particular in Pakistan with the sole objective to instil fear among the Indian masses," a PIB statement said.

The Fact Check Unit also said that a video of an explosion on an oil tanker dating back to July 7, 2021, was passed off as an attack on the Hazira Port in Gujarat.

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A fake letter attributed to a non-existent "Chief of Army Staff, Gen V K Narayan" also surfaced, which the PIB confirmed to be fabricated.

Another viral video claimed that the Indian military used its airbase in Ambala to launch attacks, which the PIB dismissed as false and referred to a detailed Ministry of Defence press release to clarify the facts.

Reiterating its commitment to countering disinformation and safeguarding national integrity, the PIB urged citizens to rely only on verified sources and refrain from sharing any unverified content.

The claims on social media about attacks on certain Indian targets peaked as India on Thursday thwarted Pakistan's attempts to target its military sites, including in Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur, Uttarlai and Bhuj, with drones and missiles as tensions soared between the two countries amid fears of a wider military conflict.