Did Afghan nationals enter Pakistan without testing for COVID-19?

April 18, 2020 Sai Keerthi

Spread the truth:

A video has been circulating online which allegedly shows Afghan nationals entering Pakistan without any official procedures or testing for the novel COVID-19. A screenshot of the same is as follows:

You can view the video here.

Facebook

The translation on the post reads : “Another awesome step towards the Corona virus spread by the government in the government. The Afghan border was opened today. Thousands of people enter the country without a Corona test.”

Twitter

دوستوں! پھر نہ کہنا کہ زائرین کی وجہ سے کرونا پاکستان میں آیا ہے#Balochistan #Quetta #ARYNews #Torkhum #Afghanistan #coronavirusinpakistan https://t.co/qoTP2fI8pY

— ARKology (@ArkHazara) April 8, 2020

Truth

The video is taken out of context and while it is taken from the Afghan border and earlier this month, it is not a video showing untested Afghan nationals entering Pakistan but of Afghan nationals leaving Pakistan. A closer look at this video shows us the following details:

The gates through which crowd of people is rushing out has the Pakistan flag painted on it proving that the crowd is being dispersed away from the country and not into it.

The British Telegraph had published the same video on April 8th showing the cross border mass movement with the headline, “Thousands rush across Pakistan-Afghanistan border after officials lift COVID-19 restrictions”.
You can view the video here .A screenshot of the same is as follows.

A comparison of both the videos, the one that has been posted by the British Telegraph and the one being circulated online shows that the videos are indeed the same and carries the same footage taken from the exact same angle.

Aisha Farooqui, the spokeswoman for the Pakistan Foreign Ministry had announced the opening of the Torkham and Chaman border for Afghan nationals to return home.

On #Afghanistan’s special request & on humanitarian considerations,we are allowing exit of 🇦🇫 nationals, wishing to go back to their country,through Torkham & Chaman border crossings on 6-9 April.

We remain in solidarity with our Afghan brethren at this time of global pandemic.

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) April 4, 2020