RAWALAKOT: Tensions remained high in Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday night following violent clashes between members of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee and law enforcement personnel, with conflicting claims emerging over the number of casualties.
According to media reports, the Joint Awami Action Committee claimed that 14 of its members were killed after security forces opened fire on protesters. However, the Inspector General of Police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir said the authorities were unable to verify those claims.
A senior district administration official said one Rangers personnel was killed and several others were injured after protesters allegedly opened fire on law enforcement officers. The official also claimed that protesters set two Rangers and police vehicles ablaze during the confrontation.
According to the official, security forces succeeded in halting the protesters’ planned long march towards Muzaffarabad and pushed them back to the site where they had been staging a sit-in for the past six weeks.
Earlier in the evening, the Joint Awami Action Committee had announced that its supporters had entered Rawalakot and intended to continue their march towards Muzaffarabad, expecting to reach the city within three to four days.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the death of a Rangers officer. The official alleged that after nightfall, protesters positioned on surrounding hills opened fire on police and security personnel as the march advanced towards Rawalakot. According to the police, the incident left one Rangers official dead, two Rangers personnel injured, and two police officers wounded.
The police official said security forces returned fire in response and added that casualties among protesters could not be ruled out, although no official figure has been confirmed.
Core committee member Abid Shaheen of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee claimed that around a dozen members of the organisation were killed and more than two dozen injured in the firing. Another committee member, Imtiaz Aslam, said in a video message that 14 activists had been killed, including Usman Nazir, the younger brother of the committee’s founding member, Umar Nazir.
No independent confirmation of the casualty figures has been made, and authorities have yet to issue an official statement confirming the total number of deaths or injuries.
