Taliban vehicle's picture was edited to put Kerala police on mat

The two pictures focus on a crescent moon and star symbol. Netizens claim that the same sticker found on the Taliban vehicle can be seen on Kerala Police vehicle. Users indicate that Kerala Police support the Taliban.

The picture is shared along with the text, "Kerala Police now in support of Taliban."
FACT CHECK:

The picture is being shared against the backdrop of a Kerala Police vehicle causing controversy for fixing a sticker on the government vehicle. The crescent moon and star sticker are said to be a religious symbol that was affixed to a police van.

According to Deccan Herald, Geo TV News, and Pipa News, the picture was taken when the van, which was being used by the Kerala Armed Police Battalion, was parked at Pamba near Sabarimala. It created controversy because according to rules applicable to police vehicles, they should not have any such religious or political identities.

Armed Police Battalion Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) K Padmakumar told Deccan Herald that the driver of the police vehicle, on which the sticker was found, had stated that he put it up thinking it to be a reflective sticker. The driver also stated he had no malicious intentions behind putting up the sticker.

Newsmeter, then, performed a reverse image search on the Taliban vehicle and found that the viral image had been edited to add the crescent moon and star symbol.

News reports by the LA Times and Times of India carried the unedited picture in their articles. Here no such symbol can be seen. The picture was taken in August 2021 when the Taliban seized three more provincial capitals and a local army headquarters to complete a blitz across Afghanistan's northeast. The picture shows Taliban fighters patrolling the Afghan city of Farah on August 11, 2021.

The picture of the Taliban vehicle was edited after the Kerala police van news broke out to create false information that the Kerala police are in support of the Taliban.