ISLAMABAD - Hours after Pakistan's precision strikes on Indian-backed terrorist camps in Afghanistan, a coordinated disinformation campaign by Indian and Afghan intelligence networks has been exposed, with recycled and AI-generated images circulating as "evidence" of civilian casualties.
Following Pakistan's airstrikes targeting Jamaat-ul-Ahrar camps in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces, a familiar pattern has emerged:
No strike site imagery: Despite claims of mass casualties, Afghan Taliban sources have failed to produce a single verifiable image of the strike sites themselves
Recycled content: Old earthquake footage and images of children are being circulated as "fresh" victims of Pakistani strikes
AI-generated visuals: Multiple images show signs of digital manipulation, with at least two photographs identified as AI-generated
Escalating death tolls: Propaganda accounts are rapidly inflating casualty figures, with expectations that claims will cross 500 in coming hours
Pakistan has maintained that the strikes were precise, based on ground intelligence, and killed 29 terrorists belonging to Indian proxy networks .
India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) have been documented running coordinated disinformation operations against Pakistan . The EU DisinfoLab report in 2020 exposed a massive network of fake media outlets in 119 countries .
Recent intelligence assessments reveal that RAW has established a covert digital action unit, internally codenamed G-45, with an annual budget of $3.2 million USD funneled through Indian IT companies under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility .
The operation has created a network of front organizations:
The Balochistan Post
Voice of Balochistan
Baloch Freedom Radio
These platforms, along with automated social media accounts, form the backbone of the disinformation campaign .
A disturbing pattern has emerged where Indian media outlets, particularly The Sunday Guardian (founded by BJP politician M.J. Akbar), are publishing content authored by designated terrorists .
Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesperson of banned terrorist outfits TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar-and one of the principal accused in the 2014 APS Peshawar massacre-has been given a platform in the publication . Security experts have condemned this as a violation of journalistic ethics and a dangerous precedent of mainstreaming terror-linked narratives. Ehsanullah Ehsan is reportedly living under GDI protection and is allegedly on RAW's payroll .
RAW's G-45 Media Cell operates on a documented strategy :
Language manipulation: Inserting the phrase "Occupying Forces" in every headline involving Pakistani forces
Blurring responsibility: Using vague language like "unknown gunmen" to obscure the identity of perpetrators
Fabricated research: Creating research papers citing imaginary Western NGOs
Bot amplification: Using automated accounts to promote content on social media
Pakistan's DG ISPR has confirmed that strikes were conducted based on credible intelligence and targeted only terrorist infrastructure . The military has released footage of the strikes on Jamaat-ul-Ahrar camps, demonstrating precision targeting and the elimination of Indian-backed terrorist networks.
As one security analyst noted: "The very fact that a wanted terrorist has been given author status in a mainstream Indian publication reveals the depth of desperation and the extent of the Indian state's disinformation tactics" .
Despite documented evidence of a coordinated disinformation campaign, international media outlets-including BBC and Al Jazeera-have largely remained silent on the fake narratives being pushed by Indian and Afghan propaganda accounts .
Pakistan's Information Minister has called on international media to verify sources before amplifying what it calls "Taliban propaganda" and to recognize the ongoing threat of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
