FACT CHECK: No, Video Does Not Show Taliban Moving Artillery Toward Iranian Border
A video shared on Twitter claims to show the Taliban moving artillery and heavy weaponry toward its border with Iran.
🚨🇦🇫🇮🇷Taliban moves troops, and heavy weaponry to the border with Iran, warns to capture Tehran within days, if Iran does not stop the provocations. pic.twitter.com/25zN5fm9ut
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) May 27, 2023
Verdict: False
The video is from September 2021 and allegedly shows the Taliban moving forces to Panjshir Valley, not Iran.
Fact Check:
Iran and the Taliban clashed in recent days over water rights, leading to deaths on both sides, with at least one Taliban border guard and three Iranian border guards being killed, according to Radio Free Europe/Free Liberty.
The Twitter video shows Taliban fighters traveling alongside a highway with trucks carrying artillery pieces. The tweet reads, “Taliban moves troops, and heavy weaponry to the border with Iran, warns to capture Tehran within days, if Iran does not stop the provocations.”
However, through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video is from September 2021. The video was shared to Twitter by various Twitter accounts that claimed it showed Taliban fighters heading to Panjshir Valley.
#BreakingNews #AfghanTaliban #Afghanishtan #NorthernAllianceForces #Panjshir
Taliban began to transfer artillery to Panjshir – 122mm D-30 howitzers. As footage shows it is transported in the bodies of trucks to increase the mobility and fast transportation.. pic.twitter.com/csmabxsS1K— Kashif Mehmood (@kashifconnect) September 2, 2021
“Taliban began to transfer artillery to Panjshir – 122mm D-30 howitzers. As footage shows it is transported in the bodies of trucks to increase the mobility and fast transportation..,” one account tweeted. (RELATED: Has The U.S. Spent Twice As Much On Ukraine AID Than The War In Afghanistan?)
An image of the video was published in a September 2021 Daily Mail article. The article reports that the Taliban were using U.S. weapons to crush the last pockets of anti-Taliban resistance led by the National Resistance Front (NRF) in Panjshir Valley.
The NRF has continued resistance against the Taliban, with eight fighters dying in an April 2023 raid by the Taliban, according to The Associated Press.
