Authorities have reopened all the closed roads and entry points in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With Peshawar roads reopened, the federal Information Ministry has also dismissed a number of social media claims about unrest in the province, describing them as fabricated, misleading and part of an organised propaganda campaign backed from abroad.
Peshawar Roads Reopened, Normal Life Resumes
According to officials, all the containers placed in the city to deal with possible protests after the imposition of governor’s rule in KP have been removed. Barriers have been cleared from the Assembly Chowk Red Zone and from every route into and out of the city.
The BRT service, which had remained suspended for two days, is running again. All educational institutions have also reopened.
A day earlier, barriers and containers set up in Islamabad ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march had been taken away as well.
Information Ministry Fact Check Targets Viral Claims
The ministry’s fact-check wing said that AI-generated images, old footage and unrelated videos were being used on social media to create a false impression of unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A spokesperson for the ministry said clips of factory fires, protests against load shedding and even videos from Syria and other countries were being shared with misleading captions and passed off as scenes from KP.
Claims of a Coordinated Propaganda Campaign
The ministry further claimed that certain Afghan and Indian social media accounts, working alongside a few local political accounts, were pushing this narrative. The aim, it said, was to spread a sense of chaos and instability in the country.
Officials said the campaign was being monitored continuously so it could be countered and the public kept informed of the facts. They added that the security and administrative situation in the city remained fully under control.