Viral but not true?

The government on Thursday denied releasing a photograph of the Indian Army's operation against northeast militants "along the India-Myanmar border", clearing the air after purported images of the offensive went viral on the internet.

 Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted this morning that the ministry had not released any photos of the operation "so far".

Kar's clarification came hours after at least three photos showing soldiers flashing victory signs and carrying guns did the rounds on social media platforms.

One photo showed around 20 soldiers sitting before an army helicopter and posing for the camera. Captions tweeted along with this photo said these soldiers had carried out the offensive against militants along the India-Myanmar border killing more than 20 militants.

The photos had surfaced on the internet after being tweeted by ANI news agency and soon was used by different media outlets.