Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued a detailed fact-check rejecting claims circulating on social media that US special forces have arrived at the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan and that secret meetings were held to plan action against Iran.
The ministry said the claims shared by the X account @ISBPost and other pages, are false, misleading, and part of a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at creating mistrust about Pakistan’s foreign and security policy.
The posts claimed that Shamsi base was being used again by the United States and that Pakistan’s military leadership had discussed regime change in Iran with foreign officials.
According to the official statement, Shamsi Air Base was vacated in 2011 after the Salala incident and has remained under exclusive Pakistani control since then.
The ministry said Pakistan has never allowed its territory, airspace or military facilities to be used against Iran and continues to follow this policy.
The ministry also cited past statements by the DG ISPR, who had clearly said in May 2024 that no Pakistani base has been handed over to any foreign country and none will be.
The ministry says images are old and claims are recycled propaganda
The fact-check further explained that the images used in the viral posts are old and misleading. The satellite image shown in the posts is from July 2004 and comes from historical Google Earth data from the period when the US was using the base for operations related to Afghanistan.
The photos of soldiers and military equipment are also stock or old images from the early 2000s and have no connection to any current activity in Pakistan.
The ministry said no official institution, including ISPR, the Pakistan Air Force, the US Department of Defense or Iranian authorities has issued any statement supporting these claims.
It added that current Pakistan-US military cooperation is limited to announced exercises and does not include access to any bases.
Fact check verdict and public advisory
The Ministry of Information declared the claims completely false and propaganda. It said the story about secret meetings and foreign forces is a deliberate attempt to damage Pakistan’s image, question its sovereignty and spread fear.
The ministry advised the public not to share unverified content and to rely only on official sources such as ISPR, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and trusted Pakistani media outlets.
It reaffirmed that Pakistan’s military bases, including Shamsi, remain under full Pakistani control and are not being used for any foreign agenda.
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