FACT CHECK: Does This Footage Show The February 2019 Pulwama Terrorist Attack?

A video shared on Facebook allegedly shows a February 2019 terrorist attack in Pulwama, a town in the Jammu and Kashmir territory governed by India.

Verdict: False

The video shows a 2007 bombing outside of a military facility in Iraq, not a 2019 terrorist attack in India.

Fact Check:

On Feb. 14, 2019, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a convoy of buses carrying Indian police and soldiers in Pulwama, a town in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, according to BBC News. The attack, which killed 40 Indian soldiers, was claimed by the Pakistani-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, the outlet reported.

A video shared on Facebook claims to show footage of the attack. It shows a truck driving down a road and then slowing down as three cars behind it catch up. Suddenly, a massive explosion erupts from one of the vehicles, obscuring the other three in smoke. In the video, the truck is circled in red and labeled “Army truck” while one of the three cars behind it is circled in red and labeled “terrorist car.” The post’s caption identified the video as the “2019 Pulwama Attack (14 Feb).”

The video predates the 2019 attack by more than a decade. It was shared on YouTube in October 2007 and December 2008. Both accounts that shared the video claimed it depicted a suicide bomb attack in Iraq, not India. The video’s internal date shows “9/2/2007,” or Sept. 2, 2007 at around 3:54 p.m. (RELATED: Viral Image Claims To Show Woman Injured In 2017 London Bombing Being Arrested At A Vigil In 2021 )

Two soldiers were killed and eight others were injured after a suicide car bomb detonated near the first gate of the Iraqi Army Taji base on Sept. 2, 2007, according to an archived McClatchy Newspaper report. Two other bombs detonated in other areas of Baghdad, Iraq on the same day, killing three and injuring 10 others, the outlet reported.

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