A photo through a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the Taliban were seen driving a Cyber Truck. Elon Musk had earlier announced a new Tesla Cybertruck in 2019. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of the Taliban driving Tesla’s Cybertruck.
Fact: The photo is morphed from an image where the Taliban were seen guarding the International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. According to various news reports, Tesla’s Cybertruck production had been delayed to 2022. Even according to the Tesla Cybertruck’s reservation webpage, it has been noted that the production is going to start from 2022. Hence, as the Cybertruck is officially delayed, it is not possible for the Taliban to have driven the Cybertruck. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When a reverse image search is done on the photo, an AP News article with a similar image was found. The article published on 17 August 2021 was titled, ‘Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefitted Taliban.’ According to the caption of the image in the article, the Taliban fighters were guarding the front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on 16 August 2021. There is no mention of the Taliban driving the Cybertruck, in the article.
When one looks at the photo closely, the tyres, the front, and the back parts of the truck have been morphed to make it look like a Cybertruck. The difference can be seen when the original photo from AP News is compared with the photo in the post.
Elon Musk had earlier announced a new Tesla Cybertruck in 2019. However, according to various news reports, Tesla’s Cybertruck production had been delayed to 2022. The reports can be seen here, here, and here. Even according to the Tesla Cybertruck’s reservation webpage, it has been noted that the production is going to start from 2022. Hence, as the Cybertruck is officially delayed, there is no way that the Taliban could have driven the Cybertruck.
To sum it up, this photo had been morphed to claim that the Taliban were driving the Cybertruck.
