An old photo of mock coffins being carried by Shiite Muslims as part of a religious procession has resurfaced in social media posts. The photos falsely claimed to show victims of deadly tribal clashes in northwestern Pakistan in July 2024. Officials said at least 42 people were killed in the violence between Sunni and Shiite tribes, but the photo of worshippers commemorating the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson was taken in December 2009.
“Be the voice of Parachinar, for their voices have been silenced“, read a Facebook post shared on July 29 by a page with more than 1.3 million followers.
The news came after deadly fighting linked to a land feud between the Sunni Madagi and Shiite Mali Khel tribes in Pakistan’s mountainous northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where communities adhere to traditional tribal codes of honour (archived link).
At least 42 people have been killed and more than 150 wounded in days of machine gun and mortar fighting around the town of Parachinar, officials said (archived link).
The fighting broke out after a gunman opened fire on a council negotiating a decades-old dispute over farmland.
A photo accompanying the message shows coffins being carried through the streets covered in red cloths.
The photo was shared in similar posts on Facebook and on X here and here.
However, the photo was taken years before the fighting in northwest Pakistan and shows a religious procession taking place in December 2009.
A reverse Google search found the original photo in AFP’s archives, with AFP photographer Asif Hassan as the source.
Below is a screenshot of the photo in the fake messages (left) and the AFP photo (right):
“Pakistani Shiite Muslims carry fake coffins during a funeral procession in Karachi on December 30, 2009,” the photo caption reads.
“Shia Muslims around the world celebrate Moharam, the first month of the lunar calendar, to commemorate the death of Imam Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died along with 72 companions on the battlefield of Karbala in Iraq some 1,400 years ago.”
The same photo was published on January 18, 2020 by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in an article about the return of calm to Karachi after a deadly bomb attack at a religious procession and a “subsequent series of ‘targeted killings’ that killed at least 35 rival political activists” (archived link).
According to AFP, 43 people were killed in the suicide bombing, the worst attack in Pakistan’s financial capital in two years.
