Viral video of building fire in Peshawar has no connection to Afghanistan

The iVerify Pakistan team reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to identify the cause and location of the fire.

Posts from multiple Afghan and Indian accounts on social media platforms on October 15, 2025, shared a video claiming it allegedly showed an attack in Peshawar by an Afghan drone amid the recent fighting between the countries. However, the video does not show a drone attack but an unrelated fire that occurred in a building.

On Oct 12, fierce border clashes between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban resulted in the martyrdom of 23 troops and left over 200 Taliban fighters dead, including a number of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorists. Both nations claimed to have destroyed the border posts of the other side.

On Oct 14, fighting flared up again between the neighbours in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The next day, on Oct 15, the third major skirmish also took place, with the Pakistani security forces saying an attack by the Afghan Taliban was repulsed in Spin Boldak, killing about 15-20 Taliban fighters.

Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in a social media post that the Afghan forces were “forced to retaliate” after attacks by Pakistani forces in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Mujahid claimed that more than 12 civilians were killed and over 100 were injured in the attacks carried out by Pakistani forces with the use of “light and heavy weapons”.

A temporary ceasefire was later agreed to that same day.

HOW IT STARTED

On Oct 15, a pro-Afghan account shared a video on X of a building with a fire in one of the rooms.

The caption of the post said: “In Pakistan’s Peshawar province, an Afghan Air Force drone targeted a room in a plaza near Bala Hissar that was being used as a covert office for Pakistan’s special intelligence operations.”

The post gained 97,900 views.

The same video with a similar caption was shared by another pro-Afghan user on X, gaining 276,000 views.

An Indian propagandist account also shared the video on X with the following caption: “Breaking: An Afghan Air Force drone strike hit a specific room in a plaza near Bala Hissar, Peshawar, which was reportedly being used as a secret ISI intelligence office. At least four ISI officials have been killed in the precision strike.”

The post gained 20,000 views.

The video with a similar claim was widely shared by different Afghan and Indian users on X as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining more than 410,000 views.

It was also shared by multiple pro-Afghan and pro-Indian Users on Facebook, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the matter.

A keyword search conducted to corroborate whether any such alleged attack had occurred in Peshawar on Oct 15 amid the tensions between the two countries yielded no news or video reports from any local, national or international media outlets regarding any such incident.

A subsequent keyword search for “Peshawar” and “fire” did yield a news report from the same date from media outlet Daily Independent titled: “Peshawar, October 15, 202 fire erupts at Ittehad Plaza on Ashraf Road”.

As per the report, a fire unexpectedly occurred at Ittehad Plaza on Ashraf Road in Peshawar and was subsequently controlled by the efforts of Rescue 1122 teams.

The incident was also covered on the same date in a news report by Peshawar-based media outlet Mashriq TV titled: “Peshawar: Fire breaks out at Ittehad Plaza in Firdous Chowk, plaza filled with smoke”.

The image used in the report shared the same features as the building in the viral video.

Performing a keyword search again after refining it for the location yielded numerous similar videos of the incident shared by Pakistani users on Facebook and YouTube on the same date without associating it with the Afghan Air Force drone attack, as can be seen here, here, here and here.

A comparison between the building seen in the viral video and those shared by other users shows a clear resemblance. The same white wall in front of the main building, the colour scheme of the structure, the size of the crowd gathered outside and the street lights along the bridge are the same.

Peshawar-based Dawn correspondent Zahid Imdad also confirmed that no attack by an Afghan drone had occurred in the city and the fire was an ordinary one that had no relation to the hostilities with Afghanistan. He added that the building was one used by traders and the business community.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows a Peshawar building partly on fire after an attack by an Afghan drone is false.

The video shows an ordinary fire that broke out in a building and there was no attack on the city by any Afghan drone.