Fact Check: India’s Death Toll Reaches 705 After Recent Conflict with Pakistan? No, Viral Video Is False

Claim
India’s death toll in the recent conflict with Pakistan has reached 705.
Fact
The viral claim is false.

A video claiming that the death toll in the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan was 702 is going viral on TikTok.

The video went viral in the wake of tit-for-tat confrontation between India and Pakistan following the April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people.

Against this backdrop, TikTok user @allnepalkanda17 posted a video of a news clip alongside other clips showing military vehicles and artillery firing.  In the news clip, the news anchor says, “Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar of the 5-Field Regiment was killed in Pakistan’s attack. Indian Army confirms Dinesh Kumar’s death.” Text superimposed on the video reads, “As of now 702 people have been killed in India.”

The video posted on May 10 has garnered 17.8k likes, 357 users have shared it and 122 people have commented until the last count.

The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.

Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.

Fact Check /Verification

To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker searched for news reports about the death toll in the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. We found an article, dated May 11, 2025, published in The Hindu, which confirmed that as many as 18 civilians and seven security personnel have been killed in heavy shelling and firing from across the border since Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7.

Further, the article also reported that Indian soldier Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar Sharma, of the 5-Field Regiment, was killed on May 7 in Poonch in heavy artillery and mortar firing from Pakistan. 

We found another article, dated May 14, 2025, published by Reuters which quoted the Pakistani military saying that 40 civilians and 11 of its armed forces were killed in the attack. The article noted that India said at least five of its military personnel and 16 civilians died. This report about combined deaths on both sides of the border does not match the claim of 700 plus deaths. 

We then checked the website of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and found a report regarding operation Sindoor. Though the report has noted that 100 terrorists were killed and nine camps were eliminated as part of the operation, it hasn’t mentioned the number of casualties in India. We didn’t find any clear official statistics or news reports on the number of people killed in India during the recent conflict.

Further, we closely observed the news clip and noticed that the news anchor resembled Nepal’s popular New24 Television. We checked the YouTube channel of New24 TV and found a video, dated May 8, 2025, posted on the YouTube channel. On checking the clip titled ‘Morning News Fatafat’, we found that the clip from 3:48-minute onwards exactly matched the main clip of the viral video. However, the news only reported about the death of Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar Sharma, of the 5-Field Regiment, in Pakistani firing in Poonch.  

Thus, our findings clearly show that a news clip of News24 TV regarding the India-Pakistan conflict is being shared with an exaggerated claim regarding the death toll in the conflict.

Conclusion

The viral clip claiming that the death toll on the Indian side in the recent conflict with Pakistan post-Pahalgam terror attack has reached 705 is misleading. A news clip of News24 Television is being passed off with a false text laid on top.

Result: False

Sources
News24 Television Nepal /YouTube , May 11, 2025
The Hindu  , May 11, 2025
Reuters , May 14, 2025
Telegraph, May 14, 2025

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