Pak circulating fake videos about Poonch forest fire: Govt

Jammu, Dec 9: The government has alerted the people against, what it said, “Pakistani propaganda accounts circulating misleading claims about the Indian army” vis-a-vis the forest fire that broke out on December 7 near the Line of Control (LoC) in Balakote sector of Poonch district.

The forest fire had triggered multiple landmine explosions along the border.

However, according to Press Information Bureau (PIB), the nodal agency of the Government of India to disseminate information to the media, “several Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a video with the claim that the Indian Army has blown up multiple landmines with explosions in the Balakote sector, causing a forest fire to spread along the LoC.”

Through its “PIB Fact Check” handle on ‘X’, the Bureau has cautioned that this claim is misleading.

“A forest fire that broke out on Sunday near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Balakote sector of Mendhar, triggering multiple landmine explosions along the border, has been falsely attributed to the Indian Army by Pakistani propaganda accounts to undermine trust in the Indian Armed Forces as part of Pakistan’s ongoing disinformation campaign against India,” it stated.

Sharing several screenshots (also flagged by the Ministry of Defence) of “Pakistan propaganda accounts falsely attributing LoC forest fire to Indian Army”, PIB Fact Check handle has reiterating the warning, “Never share unverified content. Trust only official Government of India sources for accurate information.”