An explosion in Kabul — capital of Afghanistan — has sent the entire city into a state of terror. A huge explosion hit the crowded mosque in the city on August 17, 2022, killing at least 21 people (including the Imam of the mosque), and leaving around 33 injured. The blast affected many buildings around the mosque and images started circulating online immediately.
Against this backdrop, an image showing dense smoke emerging from a building is doing the rounds on social media, with people claiming that the image belongs to the recent bombing of the mosque.
A Facebook user posted the viral image with a caption: At least 20 dead, 40 injured in mosque explosion in Kabul https://www.instagram.com/tv/ChY9ujMOtAk/… #Kabul #KabulBlast #KabulMosque #KabulAttack #KabulMosqueBlast #Afghanistan #ISlamicState #Terrorism #Taliban #News #NewsAlert #BreakingNews #BreakingNow #TheNewzVerse
You can find the post here.
The viral image with the same claim has been published by many prominent Indian media houses, including Mirror Now, The Guardian, Hindustan Times, and ANI.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral claim, and found it to be misleading.
Running a Reverse Image Search of the viral image, we found a report, published in Vox — an American news website, dated July 1, 2019, with a title: The Taliban has launched a major attack in Afghanistan’s capital. The picture matches exactly with the viral image, and the report elaborates on the Taliban attack that happened in Kabul in July 2019.
The description of the image reads: Smoke rises from the scene of a bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 1, 2019. Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images. Crediting the photographer and source of the image.
Getty Images has also the same image. The exact image was published on July 1, 2019, with a photo credit of Anadolu Agency.
The description of the image states: 10 killed as huge explosion rocks Afghan capital
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – JULY 01: Smoke rises from the scene of a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 1, 2019. At least 10 people were killed and 65 injured in a suicide bombing, followed by gunfight at a defence ministry’s installation in Kabul on Monday, officials and local media confirmed. (Photo by Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
This confirms that although the image shared online is about a blast that happened in Kabul, it is not about the one that happened recently, but in 2019.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral image showing visuals from the recent blast at a mosque in Kabul is misleading.
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