Fact-check: AI-generated video falsely shows Karachi protester linking PTI to US Consulate attack plan
Two Karachi police officers confirm no such video of a protester has been released by them
Updated Tuesday Mar 10 2026
Fact-check: AI-generated video falsely shows Karachi protester linking PTI to US Consulate attack plan
After violent protests erupted near the American Consulate in Karachi on March 1 following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a video began circulating on Pakistani social media supposedly showing an arrested protester saying he was instructed to target the Consulate by the opposition political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in order to pressure the government to release former prime minister Imran Khan.
The claim is false. The video was in fact created using publicly available Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.
Claim
On March 3, a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a one minute video allegedly showing a protester in police custody.
"The troublemaker arrested in the protests at the US Consulate turns out to be a PTI activist," read the caption in Urdu, "The purpose of the unrest was to damage Pakistan US relations and secure Imran Khan's release."
In the accompanying video, a man is seen in police custody. He identifies himself as Daniyal Shah. The man then says he and three other men had been instructed that if an attack occurred in Iran, members of the Shia community should stage protests in Karachi.
"We were to join this protest with weapons and target the staff of the American Consulate along with the general public," he can be heard saying. "We did just that so that a message would go out to the world that the Pakistani government is aligned with Iran and to create a justification for an American attack.'
The man also claims the objective was to use the situation to push for Imran Khan’s release.
At the time of writing, the video had been viewed over 257,000 times, liked 2,500 times and reposted nearly 1,500 times.
The same video was also shared on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X here, here, here and here.
Fact
The online video was created using Artificial Intelligence tools. No such video has been released by the Karachi police of a protester in custody.
The Deputy Inspector General of Karachi's South Zone Syed Asad Raza told Geo Fact Check the video was fake. "No such person has been detained or interrogated by local police," he said, adding that no individual had made any such statement either.
Syed Rehan Shahid, public relations officer to the Additional Inspector General of Police Karachi, also confirmed to Geo Fact Check via messages that the video circulating online is AI-generated.
Additionally, Geo Fact Check used DeepFake O Meter, a tool developed by the University at Buffalo, which found the clip to be 100% likely AI-created.
Verdict: The video circulating online which shows an alleged protester in Karachi claiming he was instructed by PTI to attack the US Consulate is fabricated.
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