Afghanistan and Pakistan are locked in cross-border clashes since October 9, when Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul, Khost, Jalalabad and Paktika. Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and has conducted air and drone strikes inside Afghanistan. Kabul insists its sovereignty is being violated. A fragile 48-hour ceasefire is currently in place.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which people are seen fighting with each other inside a mosque.
The video is shared with a caption claiming that it shows natives of Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting inside a mosque in Bahrain.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “#Afghans and #Pakistanis who came to pray at a #Mosque in #Bahrain clashed! #Mandrake Effect.!?” (Translated from Malayalam)
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video is old and shows a clash between the old and new followers of Khatib at Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Bangladesh.
A Khatib is the person who delivers the Friday sermon (khutbah) in a mosque, offering religious guidance and addressing community issues before leading the congregational prayer.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by the Facebook page of Bangla Tribune with a caption that reads, “Baitul Mukarram Mosque 20.09.2024. Clash between the followers of the old and new Khatib in Baitul Mukarram.”
Using this information, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the incident was also reported by BDNews24 on September 20, 2024.
The report suggested that two groups of supporters, one backing the former Khatib and the other the current Khatib of Baitul Mukarram mosque, clashed before Friday prayers, injuring worshippers. The dispute erupted when the previous Khatib grabbed the microphone mid-sermon.
The incident was also reported by New Age BD on September 20, 2024.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
