Rivalries between major Bangladeshi political parties have simmered ahead of elections scheduled in February 2026. After supporters of Bangladesh’s two main parties brawled at a mosque in October, old photos circulated online with a false claim they showed the aftermath of the fight. One of the pictures was in fact taken in Afghanistan, while the rest show the aftermath of a gas explosion at a mosque in Bangladesh in 2020.
“This is not a picture of Gaza in Palestine! A picture of BNP and Jamaat’s religious brothers and their practice at a mosque in Noakhali Sadar Upazila, representing their idea of a new Bangladesh,” reads the Bengali-language caption of a Facebook post shared on October 20, 2025, referring to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami party.
It features three photos showing damage inside a mosque.
Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on November 9, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
The false claim surfaced after at least 50 people were injured in a fight between supporters of the two parties at a mosque in the southern district of Noakhali on the previous day, with each side blaming the other for starting the brawl, according to local outlet the Daily Star (archived link).
Rivalries have fuelled fears of street clashes ahead of general elections in February 2026, with the parties disagreeing on multiple issues, including how to implement proposals on a two-term limit for prime ministers, and the expansion of presidential powers, among others (archived link).
The BNP is seen as the election frontrunner in the upcoming polls, while Jamaat has gained significant momentum since a ban on the party imposed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was lifted (archived link).
The other key group is the National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising last year that ousted Hasina.
The pictures were also shared in posts with similar claims that surfaced elsewhere on Facebook, but reverse image searches on Google showed they predate the incident by years.
The first photo was published in a report by The Associated Press about a bombing on October 8, 2021 inside a mosque at the northern city of Kunduz in Afghanistan (archived link).
At least 50 people died in the blast, according to hospital sources (archived link).
Another picture from Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency — which was also distributed by AFP — shows the same scene from a different angle.
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the AP photo (right)
The Daily Star published the second photo on September 8, 2020 in an article about a gas explosion at a mosque at Narayanganj, an east-central district in Bangladesh close to the capital Dhaka (archived link).
The report said the gas company blamed the September 4, 2020 accident — which killed at least 31 people — on the mosque’s failure to alert authorities after its staff detected a smell of gas leakage a few days prior (archived link).
AFP published a photo showing the same scene on September 5.
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the Daily Star photo (right)
The third photo was found in a report by Bangladeshi newspaper The Business Standard about the same explosion on September 17, 2020 (archived link).
The Daily Star published a similar picture from another angle on September 5, 2020 (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared photo (left) and the Business Standard photo (right)
AFP has previously debunked other misrepresented content related to Bangladesh.