Fact check: AI images show fake aftermath of Khan protests

A major demonstration by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was called off on Wednesday. The protesters in Islamabad were demanding Khan's release.

The events escalated and turned violent when the protesters were in the final stretch leading to the so-called "red zone" of the capital city, Islamabad, where all major government buildings are located. Police and army rangers clashed with the protesters, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Pakistani media reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces overnight in the capital, leading to the dispersal of the PTI protests. However, the exact unfolding of events is still unclear, and so is the number of people killed. According to official sources, at least six people, including four paramilitary troops and two protesters, have been killed in the demonstrations. 

However, members and supporters of Khan's PTI are saying up to 300 people were killed, as the police and army forces fired live rounds on them.

Several users have been sharing images and videos of the aftermath of the raid on social media under the hashtag #IslamabadMassacre.

However, not all of them are real. Some of the images shared are either AI-generated or altered, and some are even presented out of context.

False evidence for violence in Islamabad

Claim: "At least more than 100 people have been martyred. Now the bodies are being hidden," a user claims on X  (archived here), and posts these words together with some videos and an image that has gone viral and was also shared on Facebook, Instagram, Threads or Youtube. The image claims to show Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad covered in blood after the clashes between the protesters and police and army personnel. This was alleged to be evidence of the high number of casualties caused by the security forces.

DW Fact check: False

In the image, also attached in this Insta post,  we see a picture of a main avenue in a city and two people walking along the road covered in blood. However, if you look at the image it does not show Jinnah Avenue, which is where the incidents took place on Tuesday night. Jinnah Avenue is a long double-lane road going in both directions and is divided by a lane of small shrubs in the middle, as you can see on satellite images and images shown on Google Maps, for instance. This is not the case in the image.

Also, there are many clues in the image itself that it is AI-generated. In this case, you can see indications for AI in the image attached. In the left half of the image, we see three blue buses, but the one in the middle is only half of one. The two people in the front and center of the image also display abnormalities. The feet of the person on the right are strangely positioned, and the shadows corresponding to the person on the left do not add up to the same person. The shadows of his arms seem chopped off, and below the shadow of his left arm, there is an additional piece of shadow that does not match his jacket and looks like an additional arm. And the windows of the building in the background do not align, an error we see very often in AI images.

PTI party posts AI fake image

Claim: A second AI image being spread can be seen in this Instagram post by the PTI itself. The official account of the party writes: "Islam gets revived after every sacrifice! #IslamabadMassacre." The image shows a large street full of blood.

DW Fact check: False

At first sight and in comparison to the actual Jinnah Avenue, we also see here that it is not the same road. And here as well, we can see elements suggesting that this image is generated by AI. The light comes from the north of the image and looks very artificial, like stage lighting. The blood also shows an obvious pattern, which is very unlikely after such a tumultuous event. The buildings' rooftops to the left and right also have odd angles that don't match their construction.

In addition, the second image has a lot of very tall highrise buildings, even though in that area of Islamabad only a few such buildings can be found, which all have a very distinctive architectural design, like the Centaurus Mall, the Telecom Tower & Islamabad Stock Exchange or the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited Headquarters.

Gaza image used out of context

DW Fact Check has also noted one example of an older image presented out of context that is being falsely used by PTI supporters.

In the image shared in this viral post on X but also shared by many other accounts across various platforms, we see the back of an ambulance with six dead bodies and an injured person in the back. But this image is not from Pakistan but in fact from Gaza and was taken out of context. 

However, this does not mean that there were no serious injuries or even fatalities after the clashes between the protesters and the security forces. Many videos and images on various social media platforms as well as reports by journalists on the ground prove that the violence escalated in several instances.

Amnesty International also wrote on its X account that "the government must fully protect and ensure the rights of protesters and immediately rescind the 'shoot-on-sight' orders that provide undue and excessive powers to the military" after the situation threatened to deteriorate.

Violence during the clashes

This viral video, for instance, shows a PTI supporter kneeling on a container and praying, when four armed rangers climb onto the construction and then shove him off it, causing the man to fall from three containers stacked on top of each other. The fate of the man is yet to be determined, as accounts of whether he is injured or even dead could not be verified independently.

Other videos and images (some of them very graphic) show wounded or unconscious people either being carried away from the protests or being treated in nearby hospitals. However, not all of them actually show scenes from Pakistan. Ant the cause for injuries does not become evident from them.

PTI has circulated a list online claiming to show the names and details of those injured and those who died during the protests. It was also shared in this post on X. 

However, no exact numbers have been confirmed so far. 

DW spoke to various officials and eyewitnesses of the protests as well as hospital staff on the ground. Two medical staff members from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) who were on duty during the clashes on Tuesday night told DW on condition of anonymity that the claim of PTI regarding the casualty number is false. 

"Two dead bodies were received by the PIMS hospital. One died due to severe tear gas with an asthma history, and the second dead person's clothes were soaked in blood and I have seen their dead body," a medical staffer from PIMS told DW.

A doctor who was also on duty that night added: "There were around 20 injured persons treated on Tuesday night in the emergency rooms; many of them were discharged after the treatment because they were affected by the tear gas."

Other witnesses, mainly journalists and videographers who were present at the protest site throughout the day, told DW what they had witnessed. Both painted a picture of chaos and confusion, with physical violence carried out by both sides. 

"During the operation, both rubber bullets and live ammunition were being used, which created confusion. I saw injured individuals on the roads, and with smoke filling the air, it was challenging to navigate the situation while also ensuring our safety. I saw people rescuing a protester who was severely injured. When the government initiated the grand operation, all the city lights were turned off, which added more to the chaos. Rangers were present, and they kept telling us to turn off our cameras and kind of harassed us as well," Ramna Saeed, a local journalist, told DW.

Qurat ul Ain Shirazi, another journalist present at the protests, told DW, "I have not witnessed direct firing on the protesters and seen few injured people from the rubber bullets. PTI supporters pushed and kicked me. I sustained injuries from being struck with a stick or a similar object as they demanded our departure. My colleague was also subjected to rough treatment. This all occurred while our team was clearly identified by our press jackets."

DW spoke with Khan's associate Zulfikar Bukhari, who claimed, although he did not provide immediate evidence, that "40 protesters were killed on Tuesday night." 

Boris Geilert contributed to this report.