Fact Check: Viral video shows people in Punjab looting shops of Afghan refugees?

A viral video of a shop being looted and stomped on social media has been circulating with claims that local residents in Punjab plundered the business of Afghan traders amid the ongoing repatriation of Afghan refugees. However, the man who filmed the original video has clarified that the footage has been misrepresented online.

Video depicts chaotic scene at a shop

The video in question captured a chaotic scene where several men aggressively grab packed clothes from a shop while a voice can be heard shouting “loot lo” (loot it).

This footage was shared across multiple social media platforms, including X, with claims suggesting that during the forced repatriation of Afghan refugees, locals in Pakistan were taking over Afghan-owned businesses and engaging in looting.

One such post was shared by the X account @nadirbaluchs, which garnered 1.2k likes and over 93,000 views. The account made the claim that Pakistanis were looting the goods of Afghan traders in the wake of their forced deportation.

Another post from @Parizad__Oslo reinforced this narrative, adding derogatory remarks towards Pakistan’s military leadership while tagging international organisations such as the European Commission and the UN Human Rights Council.

Video date and source revealed

As the video spread, some social media users began to question its authenticity. X user Shiraz Hassan posted a screenshot of the video and claimed that it was filmed three years ago.

In response, journalist Ifikhar Firdous shared the link to the original source of the video, leading to a YouTube video with the same footage. The video was titled "Star Collection" with a date of March 21, 2025, mentioned in the caption.

Further investigation revealed that the video had been originally shared by a TikTok account under the name ‘Shfiq Ahmed,’ the owner of a shop called "Star Collection" located in Azam Market, Lahore.

Ahmed himself reshared the viral clip, clarifying that it was filmed during a routine sale at his shop.

He also addressed the false claims circulating online, stating, “Someone wrote on Facebook that Punjabis are looting the goods of Afghan refugees. This is all fake. This is a routine rush at my shop, which increases during Eid.”

Video manipulation

The viral video, which falsely linked the scene to Afghan refugees, had removed both the shop’s name, “Star Collection,” and the date, "21-3-25" from the footage. These crucial details were visible in the original, unaltered video.

#viralmyvideo #onemillionvews #myvedios✌🙂✌🔥🥰😘

@shfiqahmad8

#viralmyvideo #onemillionvews #myvedios✌🙂✌🔥🥰😘

♬ original sound - Shfiq Ahmad

Additionally, several other similar videos were found on Ahmed's TikTok account, showing customers grabbing clothes in a rush during a sale, a normal occurrence at his shop. These videos were all dated between March and April 2025, further confirming the timeline.

The viral video has been definitively proven to have been misrepresented, with claims of it depicting looting related to Afghan refugees being false.

The original footage was part of a routine sale at a shop in Lahore, and the context provided by the shopkeeper and the date details confirm the video’s authenticity.