Viral Posts Falsely Claim Balochistan Liberation Army Killed 40 Pakistani Soldiers

Claim

Video claiming to show 40 Pakistani soldiers eliminated by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), along with a BLA press release claiming responsibility for the attack.

The archived version of the post can be seen here, which has clocked 244.4K views so far.

Fact

Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Balochistan Liberation Army 40 Pakistani soldiers killed”, which did not throw up any credible news reports or video about such an incident.

A further search led us to a slightly clearer, zoomed-out and longer version of the video shared by The Cradle on X on November 25, 2024, stating it shows at least one residential building that was levelled by Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

A comparison of screengrabs of the viral video (left) with the November 25, 2024 footage of the Israeli airstrike (right), confirms that the video is the same and is not related to the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack nor to the Balochistan Liberation Army.

 A reverse image search of the purported BLA press release led us to the same note, uploaded on X on August 26, 2024. In the uncropped version, we can clearly see that the press release is dated August 26, 2024, stating that under the Baloch Liberation Army’s fidayeen operation “Herof,” the fidayeen unit of the BLA’s Majeed Brigade attacked the occupying forces’ Bela camp, killing over 40 military personnel so far and holding control of a significant portion of the camp for the last six hours. News reports on “Operation Herof”, dated August 26, 2024, can be seen here and here.

“Militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province killed dozens of people on Monday. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked police stations, railway lines, and vehicles on highways in what officials said was the most widespread assault by the insurgent group in years. The BLA released a statement saying it had killed over 100 soldiers in ongoing attacks on Pakistan Army camps and military checkpoints in ‘Operation Hereof.’ The BLA said its fidayeen of ‘Majeed Brigade’ had killed over 40 soldiers in an attack on the army camp in Bela – though Pakistan’s authorities are yet to confirm this,” read a Firstpost report, dated August 26, 2024, further confirming that the viral BLA notification is not recent.

Also Read: Indian Fighter Jet Shot Down By Pakistan? No, Old Video Viral With False Claim

Sources
X post, The Cradle Media, November 25, 2024
X post, @bahot_baluch, August 26, 2024
Economic Times report,  August 26, 2024