Pakistan-Taliban war: Did Western Command Chief say India ‘paid’ Afghan Taliban to attack Pakistan? Here’s the truth

Pakistan-Taliban war: The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has debunked a doctored video of Western Command Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Katiyar, where the officer is heard claiming that the Afghan Taliban has been by paid by India(BHARAT) to attack Pakistan, and are now “fighting for us”.

Did Western Command chief make these remarks?

However, in a post on its official X handle, PIB’s Fact Check unit exposed Pakistan’s malicious propaganda, clarifying that no such statement was given by Lt Gen Katiyar, and the video circulating on social media sites is a digitally altered version of his origin statement.

“Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally altered video of Western Command Chief Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, claiming that payments had been made to the Afghan Taliban to encourage actions against Pakistan. These AI-manipulated videos are being spread to create panic and mislead people. If you spot such content, please report it to us,” it wrote, while also sharing the link to the original unedited video of the Lt Gen Katiyar’s comments.

Deepfake Video Alert

Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a digitally altered video of the Western Command Chief, Lt. Gen. Manoj Kumar Katiyar, claiming that payments had been made to the Afghan Taliban to encourage actions against Pakistan. He added that the… pic.twitter.com/6TpNGdlEGS

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) October 17, 2025

What did the deepfake video claim?

The doctored video had claimed Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Manoj Kumar Katiyar told reporters that “payments had been made to the Afghan Taliban to encourage actions against Pakistan.”

During a Jammu press briefing, Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Manoj Kumar Katiyar told reporters that payments had been made to the Afghan Taliban to encourage actions against Pakistan. He added that the Taliban accepted the money and are now fighting for us against Pakistan. His… pic.twitter.com/sQeTbZMcmk

— Hawk’s Eye (@Hawkss_eye) October 17, 2025

“He added that the Taliban accepted the money and are now fighting for us against Pakistan. His remarks came as Islamabad and Kabul were trading accusations during a recent spate of border incident,” it further claimed.

What Lt Gen Katiyar actually said?

Notably, the original video was from Lt Gen Katiyar’s October 14 presser in Jammu, in which he warned Pakistan of a “deadlier” Operation Sindoor 2.0, if Islamabad continues terror attacks in India(BHARAT).

“Unless Pakistan’s way of thinking changes, it will continue to take the actions it has taken. In Operation Sindoor, we have destroyed its airbases and posts, but it may attempt something again. Whatever action we take this time will be more than last time… Operation Sindoor 2.0 has to be more deadly,” the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Western Command, had told reporters.

Pakistan breaks truce with Taliban

Meanwhile, Pakistan on late Friday reportedly violated its extended ceasefire agreement with Kabul, as it launched fresh airstrikes in Afghanistan. A senior Taliban official claimed Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s border province of Paktika, and warned that Kabul would “retaliate” to the Pakistani truce violation, AFP reported.

The recent escalation comes amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Kabul after 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a military clash on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last week.

(With inputs from agencies)