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| - Fact Check: Viral claim of China killing 158 Indian jawans is a three-year-old fake
Amid the ongoing India-China border standoff, a viral post, along with an image of army vehicles on fire, is circulating on social media with the claim that 158 Indian soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by the Chinese army in Sikkim.
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India Today Fact Check
The viral picture is three years old. The claim that 158 Indian soldiers were killed in a Chinese attack is also false.
Amid the ongoing India-China border standoff, a viral post, along with an image of army vehicles on fire, is circulating on social media with the claim that 158 Indian soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by the Chinese army in Sikkim.
Several Facebook users have shared the picture with similar captions saying, "Clashes erupted btw #Indian and #Chinese forces in Naku La sector of North Sikkim" or "#158 Security Forces of India got killed in Disastrous Rocket Launcher attack by China in Sikkim. #IndianMediaHidingThisNews".
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be false. The viral picture is three years old. The claim that 158 Indian soldiers were killed by the Chinese in a rocket attack in Sikkim is also untrue.
Multiple Facebook users have shared and posted the same content.
Using "TinEye" reverse image search, we found that the viral image was used several times along with three more pictures since July 2017 by several Pakistani and Chinese media.
During the Doklam stand-off between India and China in 2017, several Pakistani media houses ran these images along with a similar fake news back then that "158 Indian soldiers were killed by the Chinese army."
Both India and China had dismissed the Pakistani reports as fake news. Media had then reported that the Indian government categorically said the viral pictures were unrelated and of a different incident.
Several news reports from May 2017 say there was an accidental mortar explosion in an army camp in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, which killed a soldier and injured six.
According to local army sources, the viral picture is of the same incident. Though we could not find the exact same picture of the Tawang incident which is identical to the viral one, therefore, we cannot confirm the original source and details about the viral picture. But it is confirmed that the three-year-old viral picture has no link to the present Indo-China standoff.
Since there is no claim from the Indian or Chinese sides and no such media report which confirms that any Indian soldier has lost his life during the recent crisis, it can be said that the viral claim about the killing of 158 Indian soldiers by the Chinese army is also false.
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