New Delhi: A Twitter user who claims to be a Nepali citizen has falsely claimed on the social media platform that the Indian Air Force (IAF) crossed the border to conduct air strikes on Nepali territory, and an Indian jet was shot down and two pilots have been killed in retaliation.
In a tweet Thursday, one Irmak Idoya said, “Indian airforce had crossed the border to conduct airstrike on the Nepal territories today. India conducted an airstrike in Kot Kharak Singh Pernawan near India Nepal border. In responding, we’ve shot down Indian jet & two Indian pilots killed (sic).”
The tweet was posted along with two images — of a crashing jet, and the remains of a crashed plane. The tweet has over 3,200 retweets and over 8,500 likes.
https://twitter.com/Irmaknepal/status/1286354956870651905
Several Twitter handles tweeted the same piece of fake information. Many Facebook posts also made these claims.
In another fake tweet on 15 July, Idoya had posted an image of a drone that he claimed was Indian, and was shot down by Nepalese forces.
https://twitter.com/Irmaknepal/status/1283109533427040257?s=20
Old pictures from Libya and India
The IAF has not carried out any operation in Nepal. Furthermore, a fact check reveals that both the images posted in the tweet Thursday are old.
The first image showing a jet on fire is from Libya in 2011. The second image is from Bengaluru in 2019 when a Mirage-2000 fighter jet crashed at a military airport runway.
The image of the drone claimed to be Indian in the earlier tweet is an image from 2017, according to a fact check by The Times of India. It was originally posted by the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, Pakistan’s defence media unit, to make a claim that they had shot down an Indian drone.
Indian quadcopter spying across LOC in Rakhchikri sector shot down by Pak Army shooters. Wreckage held. pic.twitter.com/g9FG7EghPS
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) October 27, 2017
These tweets have come amid increasingly turbulent diplomatic ties between the Himalayan neighbours, particularly over territorial claims.
Also read: ‘Nepali’ Ram to Pakistan’s Krishna temple — the battle of the Hindu gods in India’s neighbourhood