Fact check roundup: What’s true and what’s false about the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
![Portrait of McKenzie Sadeghi](/gcdn/presto/2022/02/03/USAT/3018c18b-c2ee-4dbe-85b2-1925cefb6706-Sadeghi_McKenzie.jpg?crop=237,237,x0,y28&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
After the withdrawal of U.S troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s swift return to power, false and misleading information about the situation spread wildly across social media platforms.
Here’s a roundup of Afghanistan-related claims addressed by the USA TODAY Fact Check team:
Hoaxes, conspiracy theories
CLAIM: "Afghan Islamists" have sentenced 229 Christian missionaries to death.
Our rating: False
There is no evidence to support claims the Taliban sentenced 229 Christian missionaries to death, although the group has killed Christians. The rumor is a chain message that has been circulating online since at least 2009. Read more.
CLAIM: The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is a "false flag" staged for political gain.
Our rating: False
Claims that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is a "false flag" staged for political gain are baseless conspiracy theories. Governments and media organizations around the world have confirmed the happenings. The number 1109 on the side of a cargo plane is the aircraft's serial number, not a coded reference to Sept. 11, 2001. Read more.
CLAIM: The U.S. Air Force C-17 plane leaving Kabul was an "inflatable decoy."
Our rating: False
A C-17 plane in a video leaving Kabul, the Afghan capital, was not an inflatable decoy. Air Force officials told USA TODAY the plane was real. The U.S. military used inflatable tanks and props during World War II to deceive German troops. Read more.
CLAIM: Female Afghan Army pilot Safia Ferozi was stoned to death by the Taliban
Our rating: False
There is no evidence the Taliban killed Afghan Army pilot Safia Ferozi by stoning on Aug. 29. Read more.
Misleading images and videos
CLAIM: The Taliban painted several men's faces in tar and paraded them through the streets as punishment for practicing Christianity.
Our rating: False
A TikTok video claiming the Taliban punished several men for practicing Christianity is false. The tarred men were shamed after the Taliban accused them of theft. There is no evidence the public shaming had anything to do with Christianity. Read more.
CLAIM: An image shows refugees from Afghanistan flying to the USA.
Our rating: False
A viral image purporting to show a plane carrying male Afghan refugees being evacuated to the USA is false. The photo shows Afghan migrants in 2018 returning to Afghanistan from Turkey via a chartered flight. Read more.
CLAIM: Meme shows Afghan women in 1960 versus 2021.
Our rating: Altered
A meme claiming to show the difference between women in Afghanistan in 1960 versus 2021 is mislabeled and altered. The photo purporting to show women in 2021 is actually an image of Iraqi women from 2003, which was manipulated to include chains connecting the women to a man leading them. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows the Taliban taking over the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Our rating: False
Footage from 2015 of rebels in Idlib, Syria, was misrepresented as showing the Taliban taking over Afghanistan's presidential palace. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows a man riding outside a moving plane to escape the Taliban.
Our Rating: Altered
A video claiming to show an Afghan civilian riding on the engine of an airplane in an attempt to flee the Taliban is actually a digital creation from 2020 by a Vietnamese artist. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country during the Taliban takeover.
Our rating: False
A video of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani boarding an aircraft in July to attend an international summit is misused online to claim it shows him fleeing Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows Taliban fighters dancing to a Drake song
Our rating: False
A viral video purporting to show Taliban fighters dancing to a Drake song is actually a wedding video from March in Pakistan, months before the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. Read more.
CLAIM: An image shows Ronald Reagan meeting with the Taliban at the White House, and he compared the group to the Founding Fathers
Our rating: False
A photo shows former President Ronald Reagan meeting with Afghan fighters in 1983, a decade before the Taliban emerged. A Reagan quote included in the post was about Nicaraguan rebels, not the Afghan men in the image. Read more.
CLAIM: An image shows an explosion at Kabul airport
Our rating: False
An image claiming to show an explosion at Kabul Airport was actually taken on Aug. 16, 10 days before the blasts took place. Read more.
CLAIM: Image shows a crying father and daughter in Afghanistan
Our rating: False
An image taken in Iraq in 2017 is being misused on social media to falsely claim it shows a father and daughter in Afghanistan. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows an explosion at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport
Our rating: False
A clip purporting to show an explosion at Kabul's airport actually shows an Aug. 21 Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Read more.
CLAIM: Photo shows the explosion at Kabul Airport on Aug. 26
Our rating: False
A 2015 photo of a bombing that occurred at Kabul airport was misused on social media to falsely claim that it shows current events. Read more.
CLAIM: Images depict service members killed in a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport
Our rating: False
An image claiming to depict service members killed in a terrorist attack at Kabul Airport is incorrect. The men seen in the photo died in a 2017 plane crash in Mississippi. Read more.
CLAIM: A video shows the Taliban hanging someone from a helicopter
Our rating: False
A video claiming to show the Taliban hanging someone from a helicopter is mislabeled. A different angle of the incident shows the man in the video was alive, and Afghan media outlets reported the man was a Taliban fighter attempting to hoist a flag. Read more.
Fabricated news reports, quotes
CLAIM: CNN reported Afghanistan is having a "violent but mostly peaceful transfer of power."
Our rating: Altered
CNN did not report that Afghanistan is having a “violent but mostly peaceful transfer of power.” The manipulated image used to make the claim combines three elements from unrelated news coverage, playing off an actual CNN graphic from August 2020 that described a social justice protest as "fiery but mostly peaceful." Read more.
CLAIM: CNN praised Taliban fighters for wearing masks while taking over Kabul.
Our rating: False
An image claiming CNN praised Taliban fighters for “responsibly wearing masks” during attacks originated as satire on the Babylon Bee. Many versions of this headline were shared on social media as if they were authentic. Read more.
CLAIM: The Taliban is selling abandoned, U.S.-supplied armored vehicles online
Our rating: False
A screenshot of a news headline claiming the Taliban is selling abandoned, U.S.-supplied armored vehicles online was intended as satire, but not everyone was in on the joke. There is no evidence the Taliban is selling armored vehicles online. Read more.
CLAIM: Donald Trump said, 'Do not be distracted by all this going on in Afghanistan'
Our rating: False
A quote purportedly made by former President Donald Trump about Afghanistan during a phone interview is not real. Trump's spokeswoman told USA TODAY he never made the statement included in the posts. Read more.
Biden administration's handling of Afghanistan
CLAIM: The Biden administration 'gifted' the Taliban $80 billion in weapons and wants to take 9mm pistols away from Americans
Our rating: False
The U.S. spent $28 billion, not $80 billion, on military equipment for the Afghan National Security Forces. Some of the equipment was recovered by the Taliban, not "gifted" by President Joe Biden's administration. Biden has not proposed taking 9mm pistols away from Americans. Read more.
CLAIM: Biden has been on vacation for two weeks
Our rating: Partly false
While Biden had a two-week vacation scheduled in early and mid-August, he did not end up taking all that time off. Read more.
CLAIM: The U.S. government is charging Afghan refugees $2,000 per evacuation
Our rating: Missing context
The State Department backtracked after it initially issued an alert that said those seeking flights out of Afghanistan would have to sign promissory notes for about $2,000. Read more.
CLAIM: Hillary Clinton 'slept as Benghazi burned' and Biden 'vacationed as Afghanistan fell'
Our rating: False
Congressional investigations, testimonies, phone calls and email exchanges prove former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not sleeping during the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Biden was working from Camp David while the events in Afghanistan unfolded, and he cut his trip short. Read more.
CLAIM: No one has called for flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of fallen Marines
Our rating: False
Flags were lowered to half-staff nationwide to honor the 11 Marines and two other service members who were killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 26. Read more.
CLAIM: No representatives from the Biden administration attended the dignified transfer of service members killed in Afghanistan
Our rating: False
The president and first lady Jill Biden attended the dignified transfer of the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan. Read more.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app, or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.