Fact check: Old pictures falsely linked to gun attack on Imran Khan

The Hindu found that both the images were from separate incidents, dating back several years.

This image was posted by Imran Khan on his Twitter page in 2014.

In the wake of the gun attack on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan during an anti-government rally in Wazirabad, social media users and some news outlets have been sharing old and misleading pictures of the PTI leader to describe the incident

One such post on Facebook contained two images of Mr. Khan, purportedly taken after the shooting. He is seen lying down in one of the pictures, and is being taken away with blood on his face in the other.

A similar post could be found here.

The pictures were also used by several mainstream news outlets, including WION and Outlook. Some have since deleted them.

Prominent broadcaster Piers Morgan also shared one of these images in a tweet, which has been retweeted over 10,000 times and garnered over 38,000 likes, as of November 4.

The Hindu found that both the images were from separate incidents, dating back several years.

Using a reverse image search, we found that the first picture was of Mr. Khan taking part in a dharna against the then PML-N government led by Nawaz Sharif in 2014. He himself had posted the picture on Twitter.

We traced the second picture to 2013, when the then Opposition leader sustained injuries after falling off a stage during a rally in Lahore.

Hence, both the images have nothing to do with the attack on November 3.

Mr. Khan, who was ousted as Prime Minister in April, was taking part in a protest march demanding early elections when his convoy came under fire. One person was reportedly killed while several others, including Mr. Khan, were injured in what his supporters say was a “well-planned assassination attempt”.

The suspect, who is said to have confessed to the crime, is being questioned by the police.

Fact check: Misleading