Pakistan slammed for passing off 2019 Chinese drill image as Operation Bunyan al-Marsoos photo

Ever since the Pahalgam attack and subsequent retaliation from India during Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has been heavily pushing propaganda material on social media to spread rumours and misinformation. Now Islamabad has gone a step further to convince itself that the recent conflict with New Delhi was a military success, with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir posing with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with an edited image of a Chinese drill that was passed off as a Pakistani military operation photo.

The photo was gifted during a dinner hosted by General Munir on May 24, a day after he was appointed as the Field Marshal. It was attended by Pakistan's top political and military brass, including President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. Others included the senate chairman, national assembly speaker, federal ministers, governors, chief ministers, air chief and naval chief.

The framed image was taken from an four-year-old photo from a Chinese drill. Netizens were quick to call out Islamabad for trying to pass off a Chinese military exercise image from 2019 as a Pakistan's Operation Bunyan against India. The original image shows PHL-03 multiple rocket launchers in action during the 2019 drill.

One user wondered why the Pakistani army cannot even produce original visual of its own military operation. Another user wrote, “Not just a fake victory narrative, but also a fake photo with it. What a joke @OfficialDGISPR."

Earlier, state-backed media published video game screenshots and war documentary footage, claiming they are from Pakistani military operation.