Unfounded<\/span> rumours have circulated among Indian social media users that the country’s embassy in Afghanistan was attacked in early July. The visuals in the false posts are old, and include a picture of a bombing that damaged the German embassy building in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in 2017.<\/h3>\n“Shocking news from Kabul: Attack on the Indian Embassy; several officials martyred while serving the nation,” reads a Hindi-language X post<\/a> shared July 7, 2025.<\/p>\n“This shameful act violates international diplomatic principles,” adds the caption to two pictures that each depict a damaged building.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nScreenshot of the false X post taken July 7, 2025, with a red X added by AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSimilar claims also surfaced on Facebook<\/a> on the anniversary of the 2008<\/a> attack on India’s embassy in Afghanistan that killed\u00a041 people<\/a> and injured about 150 others (archived\u00a0here<\/a> and<\/span>\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\nComments to the false posts indicate social media users believed the visuals were recent.<\/span><\/p>\n“This is bad news,” one wrote. Another said, <\/span>“Will Modi do something or not?” referring to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/span><\/p>\nBut there have been no official reports of an assault targeting the Indian diplomatic headquarters in Kabul.<\/p>\n
A combination of\u00a0reverse image<\/a> and keyword searches<\/a> on Google found the first photo<\/a> on the archives of\u00a0The Associated Press (AP) news agency\u00a0(archived link<\/a>)<\/p>\n“Afghan security forces watch a house burn at the site of a clash between insurgents and security forces at the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, Friday, May 23, 2014,” reads part of its caption.<\/p>\n\n![\"<span>Screenshot](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/nICLJrkda5HnTsTLaIcDhQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTI4NDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/afp_factcheck_us_713\/49026173fba204a3ce7098561635bfed\"\/)
“This shameful act violates international diplomatic principles,” adds the caption to two pictures that each depict a damaged building.<\/p>\n Screenshot of the false X post taken July 7, 2025, with a red X added by AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Similar claims also surfaced on Facebook<\/a> on the anniversary of the 2008<\/a> attack on India’s embassy in Afghanistan that killed\u00a041 people<\/a> and injured about 150 others (archived\u00a0here<\/a> and<\/span>\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n Comments to the false posts indicate social media users believed the visuals were recent.<\/span><\/p>\n “This is bad news,” one wrote. Another said, <\/span>“Will Modi do something or not?” referring to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/span><\/p>\n But there have been no official reports of an assault targeting the Indian diplomatic headquarters in Kabul.<\/p>\n A combination of\u00a0reverse image<\/a> and keyword searches<\/a> on Google found the first photo<\/a> on the archives of\u00a0The Associated Press (AP) news agency\u00a0(archived link<\/a>)<\/p>\n “Afghan security forces watch a house burn at the site of a clash between insurgents and security forces at the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, Friday, May 23, 2014,” reads part of its caption.<\/p>\n