On May 16, 2024, claims, along with a video, were circulating on social media that the Afghan Taliban brought Dr Aafia Siddiqui to Kabul as part of a prisoner exchange with the US. However, Aafia’s sister Fowzia Siddiqui herself rubbished such reports.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui brought back by Afghan Taliban to Kabul
The iVerify Pakistan has checked this content and has established that it is false.
To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team has investigated the claim regarding incarcerated Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release and arrival to Kabul with what her family said on the matter.
The iVerify Pakistan team was alerted on May 16, 2024, to a video doing the rounds on WhatsApp groups which was forwarded many times.
WhatsApp defines messages forwarded many times as those that are shared “through a chain of five or more chats”.
The message with the video said: “Congratulations to all. Dr Aafia Siddiqui has reached Kabul. Thanks to the Taliban. They forced the US to exchange Aafia Siddiqui and Lala Abdul Rahim for seven US soldiers.”
The video shows a woman whose face is blurred out walking into a room and greeting and hugging other women wearing black burqas.
There is also a voice laid over the footage that can be heard saying, “good news”, “Aafia Siddiqui” and “Afghanistan”.
Notably, the video also has the stamp of a TikTok account, @aminacute48, and the logo of the Afghan National Police.
Investigating the TikTok account yielded a video (link 1, link 2) shared around a week back with over 15,000 likes.
The same video and claims were shared on social media platform X on May 16 here, here and here with a combined total of over 49,000 views.
The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claims due to not only the high virality and proliferation on multiple social media avenues but also because of the public’s keen interest in developments related to Dr Aafia’s case.
The woman alleged to be Dr Aafia in the video could not be examined by the team since she is blurred, preventing any cross-examination and comparison with her visual profile to check if it is her or not.
However, a reverse image search of the video yielded a May 6 X post (link 1, link 2) by the Kabul police which featured the same video.
The post’s caption said: “A family’s long-awaited end. Through the efforts of the Kabul police, a mother recovered her three lost children.” It contained a link to a longer YouTube video as well.
Notably, the video had no voice laid over which said “good news”, “Aafia Siddiqui” or “Afghanistan” but only what the mother was saying upon being reunited with her children.
Next, the team investigated whether any of her relatives or officials from the Aafia Movement had addressed the claims.
The search led to two X posts on May 16 from Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, also chairperson of the Aafia Movement, categorically rejecting the claims.
The first post said: “Dear all, as you are aware of the false rumours spreading throughout regarding my sister arriving in Afghanistan. I don’t know where they are coming from but I do know that it is evil, hurtful and deliberate effort to sabotage Aafia’s release.”
The second post said: “These rumours are hurtful and a cause of agonising pain for our family and hindering our efforts to get her release. Kindly refrain from spreading anything about Aafia” unless it was information shared by herself, the Aafia Movement or Dr Aafia’s ‘s American lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith.
She also attached a screenshot of a news report from news outlet Pakistan Observer dated May 16 and titled: “Dr Fowzia denies rumours about release of Aafia Siddiqui”.
As per the report, Dr Fowzia said her sister was “still imprisoned in FMC Carswell, USA and braving even more atrocities”.
The Aafia Movement’s official Facebook page also shared a post on May 16 rejecting the rumours.
The Foreign Office spokesperson was also asked about the rumour during her weekly press briefing to which she said: “We are not aware of any such development.”
As per a Dawn.com report dated August 21, 2021, Dr Aafia was sentenced to 86 years of imprisonment by a US federal court in 2010, after she was convicted of firing at US troops in Afghanistan while in their custody and other six charges against her.
Her lawyers had requested a sentence of 12 years, while prosecutors had pressed for a life sentence.
In 2009, a jury had found her guilty of seven charges, including two counts of attempted murder. The jury found there wasn’t premeditation in the attempted murder charges.
Her family and supporters claim she was arrested in Pakistan and handed over to intelligence agencies, who then transferred her into US custody. Both US and Pakistani officials, however, claim that she was arrested in Afghanistan.
Dr Aafia, who received her graduation degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University in biology and neuroscience while living in the US between 1991 and June 2002, denied grabbing the weapon or having any familiarity with firearms.
The issue of her release and being brought back from US custody has been a popular fixture in Pakistani politics and public consciousness.
The iVerify Pakistan team has concluded that the claim regarding Dr Aafia’s release and being brought to Kabul by the Afghan Taliban is false.
Dr Fowzia said her sister is still incarcerated in the US and there is no substance to the rumours of Dr Aafia being brought to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the video being passed off as of Dr Aafia is actually of a mother reunited with her children and was originally posted by the Kabul police.
May 6, 2024, X post of Kabul police:
Dr Fowzia Siddiqui’s X posts from May 16, 2024:
