Around June 18, an image that shows slain soldiers laid on the ground went viral on social media with the claim that it shows martyred Indian soldiers in Ladakh. A Facebook page ‘Kashmir Update’ shared the viral image and wrote, “Pic From #Ladakh Indian Army.” It has been shared over 600 times. (archive link)
The viral image was also published by Baaghi TV. (archive link)
Alt News has received several requests to fact-check this on WhatsApp (+917600011160) and on its official Android application.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a reverse image search on Google and found that the image was published in a 2015 blog called Time Press Africa. As per the blog, the image shows Nigerian soldiers who were martyred while battling against militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The blog reported that the bodies of the slain soldiers were secretly buried by the Nigerian army at the military cemetery in Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Using this as a clue, Alt News performed a keyword search and found that Nigeria-based The Guardian published a report in December 2015 on the incident. As per the report, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) demanded an investigation on the widespread allegations of the secret burial by the military of more than 105 soldiers who were reportedly killed during an ambush by armed Boko Haram militants in the last week of November.
Thus the social media claim that the viral image shows Indian army troopers is false.
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