FACT CHECK: Did Taliban blow up mosque in Pakistan?
Several social media users are sharing an image of a mosque being blown. They claim that it is a Pakistan mosque that was blown up by the Taliban.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 24 Aug 2021 11:00 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: Several social media users are sharing an image of a mosque being blown. They claim that it is a Pakistan mosque that was blown up by the Taliban.
"The first mosque in Pakistan with the help of the Taliban was launched into space. Congratulations should not stop," reads the message
Click here to view similar posts on Facebook.
FACT CHECK:
The claim is false. The image does not show a Pakistani mosque being blown up by the Taliban.
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found several news reports that carried the same image. This image was taken in 2014 when Shia shrines and mosques were demolished by ISIS in Iraq.
2014 reports by The Times, Art-Net, and Daily Sabah state that Shia shrines and mosques were demolished by ISIS "because they were judged to be idolatrous."
ISIS militants who overran Mosul demolished ancient tombs and mosques in Nineveh, the capital of Mosul. "The pictures posted on the Internet by ISIS showed the Sunni and Sufi shrines were demolished by bulldozers, while the Shiite mosques and shrines were all destroyed by explosives," Daily Sabah reads.
Reports by Huffington Post and Independent recognize the mosque as "Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque" that was blown up in Mosul, Iraq. These reports also state that the Shia shrine was destroyed by ISIS in 2014.
Evidently, the claim of the viral image showing a Pakistani mosque being destroyed by the Taliban is false.
