Video of rockets in the sky does not show Indian airstrikes on Pakistan

Videos being shared on social media with captions implying they depict strikes from India on Pakistan are misleading.

A clip circulating on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), shows red lights in the night sky and explosions in the distance.

It has been shared with captions saying: “Happy Diwali, Pakistan Indian army 🔥Jai Hind 🇮🇳 #operationsindoor.”

Jai Hind translates to ‘victory to India’, and Operation Sindoor is the Indian government’s name for the air strikes on Pakistan.

But the video is unrelated to the most recent conflict between India and Pakistan. India launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan on 7 May, following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on 22 April, which left 25 Indians and one Nepali national dead. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack.

Both countries subsequently accused each other of carrying out cross-border shelling, missile and drone attacks following India’s air strikes, until a ceasefire was agreed on Saturday 10 May.

However, the clip circulating has been online since at least October 2024.

Full Fact has been unable to independently verify when and where it was filmed, but some media outlets reported at the time that it showed Iranian missiles hitting the Nevatim airbase in Israel, in an attack on 1 October, 2024.

We have been fact checking misinformation circulating online about the conflict between India and Pakistan, including other miscaptioned videos and images.

Before sharing content that you see on social media, it’s important to consider whether it actually shows what the caption claims it does. Our guide to spotting misleading videos can help you do this.