As the conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan continues, both sides have persisted in fabricating images and spreading disinformation. Social media users and supporters of both the Taliban and Pakistan have widely circulated AI-generated, fabricated content across these platforms. Instead of conducting proper verification, the Taliban detained, tortured, and fired celebratory gunshots over a parachutist who had landed his parachute in the city of Jalalabad, mistaking him for a Pakistani pilot. Enraged residents of the area had also beaten and even killed the individual. At the same time, users and media outlets under the control of the group published the wreckage of a Russian firefighting aircraft that had crashed in Turkey in 2021, presenting it as a Pakistani fighter jet and claiming it had been shot down by Taliban forces in Nangarhar province. Some citizens of the country have said the Taliban is using these actions as a propaganda tool to conceal systematic repression and crimes.
In another incident,t the previous day, the Taliban detained a parachutist in Jalalabad on suspicion of being a “Pakistani pilot” and subjected him to severe torture. Taliban fighters paraded the individual among crowds, where he was also brutally beaten by members of the public. The group fired celebratory shots into the air and expressed joy while claiming to have captured a Pakistani pilot and shot down a fighter jet. Many Taliban supporters praised the act and reshared AI-generated videos in connection with it.
Sources, referring to the torture of the parachutist, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “It seemed as though the fate of Farkhunda [a young woman who was killed and set on fire by a mob in Kabul on accusations of desecrating the Quran] was about to be repeated, but he was saved miraculously.”
At the same time, disinformation, along with AI-generated photos and videos, was released by the Taliban and even by media outlets under their control regarding the previous day’s Taliban-Pakistan clashes, with claims that the group had shot down a Pakistani fighter jet. One prominent Taliban-controlled media outlet in Afghanistan published the wreckage of a Turkish helicopter that had crashed in 2021, presenting it as a Pakistani military aircraft. This outlet, which refers to Taliban fighters as “Afghan security forces,” reported that they had shot down a Pakistani jet in Nangarhar province and captured its pilot alive.
In reality, the wreckage belonged to a firefighting aircraft operated by the General Directorate of Forestry of Turkey, which crashed in August 2021 in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş. The governor of Kahramanmaraş had stated at the time that the aircraft had been leased from Russia to assist Turkey in combating a forest fire in the region. Russia’s Ministry of Defense had also confirmed that the Russian amphibious aircraft Be-200 crashed while landing near Adana, Turkey, after completing a firefighting mission.
Russia’s TASS news agency reported on August 14, 2021, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, that the Russian amphibious firefighting aircraft crashed while landing in Turkey and had eight people on board. The agency published the Ministry of Defense’s statement as a direct quote, which read: “On August 14, 2021, at approximately 15:00 Moscow time, the Russian Be-200 aircraft crashed while landing after completing a firefighting mission in the Republic of Turkey, near the city of Adana.” The Russian Ministry of Defense added that five Russian military personnel and three Turkish representatives, who were guiding the crew to the fire locations, were on board the aircraft.
In addition to engineering and fabricating information and issuing false reports, the Taliban announced the previous night that clashes with Pakistan had continued in the provinces of Khost and Paktia. Local sources also reported that the clashes began at 8:00 PM along the Durand Line, in the districts of Zazi Maidan, Ali Sher, and Tere Zayi in Khost province.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman, announced the previous day that Pakistan had once again carried out airstrikes and artillery attacks in the provinces of Kandahar and Kunar. Fitrat claimed that at least 14 civilians were killed and several others wounded in the attacks. He added that Pakistani forces had bombed the Takhtapul area of Kandahar province at 8:30 AM. According to the Taliban’s statement, “In this attack, three recently returned refugees and workers were killed, and seven others were wounded.”
Fitrat also stated that the previous night, Pakistan targeted the city of Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province, using long-range artillery. According to the Taliban’s announcement, seven civilians, including women and children, were killed, and one person was wounded in the attack. The group’s statement indicated that at 10:00 PM in the Nari district, four residents, including one woman, were also killed and five others wounded due to mortar and artillery fire.
Meanwhile, Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting, claimed that the country’s military had killed 352 people and wounded more than 535 others in the recent strikes. He wrote on his X account the previous day that 130 Taliban posts had been destroyed, 171 tanks and armored vehicles had been neutralized, and 41 positions inside Afghanistan had been effectively targeted in airstrikes. The Pakistani official added that the recent attacks were carried out in the provinces of Nangarhar, Kandahar, Paktia, and parts of Pakistan’s Chitral.
Some Pakistani social media users, including some journalists in the country, have also engaged in fabricating images and spreading disinformation. Some of them manipulated photographs of former officials and disseminated false information suggesting those officials supported Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.
On another front, several countries, continuing their calls for restraint from both sides, have urged that differences be resolved through dialogue. The European Union, expressing concern over the escalating tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan, warned that the continuation of hostilities could have serious consequences for the region. The EU emphasized that Afghan soil must not be used to threaten or attack other countries. In a statement, the EU called on Taliban officials to take effective action against all terrorist groups active in Afghanistan and to prevent the country’s territory from being used against neighboring states. The statement noted that “the tensions could have serious consequences for the region” and urged both sides to immediately de-escalate and cease hostilities.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
از ناتوانی در میدان تا شکنجه یک «خلبان» خیالی و جعل یک جت جنگی
