Several social media posts (here, here, and here) are going viral, claiming that the Indian Embassy in Kabul was recently attacked in 2025. These posts share photos of damaged buildings, alleging that Indian diplomats were killed and that the visuals show the aftermath of the attack. Let’s verify the truth behind these photos in this article.
Claim: The photos show the aftermath of a recent attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
Fact: These viral photos are old, and there was no attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2025. The first photo shows Afghan security forces watching a house burn during a clash near the Indian Consulate in Herat on 23 May 2014. The second photo shows Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Ambassador Jayant Prasad visiting the Indian Embassy in Kabul after a suicide bombing on 09 October 2009. The third photo shows the aftermath of a 31 May 2017 blast near the German Embassy in Kabul’s diplomatic zone. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Photo 1
To verify the claim, we performed a Google keyword search using relevant keywords. However, we did not find any credible media reports or official statements supporting it. Given the significance of such an incident, it would have certainly attracted widespread media coverage, yet no such reports were found.
We then used Google Lens to search with a screenshot of the viral photo. This led us to multiple news reports from May 2014 featuring the same photo (here, here). According to the descriptions, the photo shows Afghan security forces watching a house burn during a clash between insurgents and security forces near the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, on 23 May 2014.
The same photo was also found in the photo gallery of the Associated Press. It was taken by photojournalist Hoshang Hashimi, with the caption: “Afghan security forces watch a house burn at the site of a clash between insurgents and security forces at the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, 23 May 2014.” It also noted that Indian authorities had stated there was a threat to its diplomats in the country but provided no further information.
Photo 2
To verify the first photo, which shows a man and a woman standing beside debris at what appears to be an attack site, we conducted a Google Lens search. This led us to the same photo on the stock image website Alamy. According to the caption, the photo shows the then Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, left, accompanied by Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad, visiting the Indian Embassy in Kabul after it was targeted in a suicide car bomb attack on 09 October 2009. According to reports, 12 people were killed and more than 80 were injured in the incident.
We also found that the same photo was featured in multiple news reports (here, here), all carrying similar captions.
To verify the second photo, which claims to show a building damaged in an attack, we conducted a Google Lens search. This led us to several media reports from 2017 (here, here, and here). According to these reports, a suicide attacker drove into Kabul’s diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour and detonated explosives, injuring up to 400 people. The blast created a 16-foot-deep crater near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, an area that houses several foreign embassies. The German Embassy in Kabul was among the buildings that were severely damaged.
The photo was also found in Reuters’ photo gallery, with the caption: “Afghan officials inspect outside the German Embassy after a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 May 2017.”
To sum up, these viral photos are old, and there was no attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2025.
