This photo is not of an Indian rescued from Kabul

KATHMANDU: AUGUST 17 – In Afghanistan, the Taliban, a radical religious group, has recently seized control of parts of the country, including the capital, Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country, while officials from a number of foreign diplomatic missions, including foreign officials and Afghan nationals, continue to flee the country. A picture is being widely shared in connection with the recent political crisis in Afghanistan.

The photo, which was claimed on social media including Facebook to be of Indians rescued from Kabul, was found to be a US Air Force rescue operation in the Philippines, which was hit by a typhoon in 2013.

Bhim Upadhyaya, a former secretary at the Ministry of Drinking Water, who has more than 200,000 followers on Facebook, had posted the content on August 16, claiming that “India has repatriated 800+ Indian nationals from Kabul today.” There have been more than 3,500 responses and 75 shares. The photo, posted by the ‘Rabi Lamichhane Fan Club’, a Facebook page with more than 92,000 followers, has received 169 responses and has been shared seven times. Similarly, the Facebook page called ‘E-learning for Students’, which has more than 39,000 followers, has shared the same claim with more than 250 responses and has been shared four times.

Screenshot taken from Facebook

With the same claim, the photo has also been tweeted from a Twitter handle called @sujankdk. Similarly, some social media users have shared screenshots of Upadhyaya’s post. Some users believe the claim, while others question it.

Fact check

The South Asia Check found the image on the US Air Force’s official website during a “reverse image search”. The photo was taken by U.S. Air Force Sergeant Ramon Brockington while rescuing 670 Filipinos living in the Philippine city of Tacloban, who were displaced by the 2013 typhoon, as they flew to the capital, Manila. The typhoon in 2013 affected 14 million people and killed more than 6,000.

The claim that the rescue operation in the Philippines during the typhoon in 2013 was linked to the recent incident in Afghanistan as a rescue operation for Indian nationals is wrong.

(From South Asia Check)