Old clips from Yemen are lost with the visual effects of the Indian-Pakistan conflict
A decade of massive explosion footage has been scattered in social media posts, falsely claiming it shows India’s attack on Pakistan’s nuclear facility. The video appeared in a news report of a strike on a weapon stand in Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni capital Sanaa in May 2015.
“Kirana Hills Bakistan (Radiation Risk),” the clip’s Hindi title shared on X on May 16, 2025.
The video shows thick smoke erupting from the huge explosion at the foot of the mountain.
Screenshot of fake posts taken on May 20, 2025
Indian media reported that the strike at a Pakistan Air Force Base near Mount Kirana has sparked rumors that they damaged alleged nuclear facilities in the area and caused a “radioactive leak” (archived here and here).
Indian Air Marshal AK Bharti denied that they had targeted the location, while Indian Express quoted a spokesman for the IAEA, a core of the United Nations Nuclear Surveillance Day, who said the agency was unaware of the radiation leak from any nuclear facilities in Pakistan (archived here and here).
Fights broke out between nuclear weapons enemies in the April-managed Kashmir attack on India-managed Kashmir (link to archive).
Four days of fierce clashes occurred between neighbors (archived here and here) before a ceasefire was agreed on on May 10.
The video was circulated in similar posts on Facebook and X, but the footage predates the decade of the India-Pakistan conflict.
one Reverse image search Found a Facebook page called “News from the Yemen Revolution” on Google, and the video was released on May 12, 2015 (archive link).
The post said it showed the explosion at Mount Nokum and also had a “Yemen” tag.
Screenshot comparison of fake clips (L) and videos uploaded on Facebook
The video surfaced after Saudi-led fighter jets crashed into an arsenal at a military base in Noqum, the outskirts of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, triggered a massive explosion and killed at least 69 people (a link to archive).
News channel Al Jazeera Mubasher uploaded a longer clip on the verified YouTube channel the same day and stated that it shows the explosive weapons repository in Sanaa (archive link).
Another user uploaded a clip showing the same explosion from another angle (archive link).
The outline of a mountain seen in the fake video also matches the Noqum Mount on Google Maps (Archive Link).
Fake video (L) seen on Google Maps and screenshots of Noqum Mountain Comparing outlines of the mountain
AFP debunked other misinformation from the conflict between India and Pakistan.
