At least 7 civilians killed during Sunday clash between police, JAAC protesters in AJK's Rawalakot: official

MUZAFFARABAD: At least seven civilians were killed during Sunday’s clash between police and the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Rawalakot, an official told Dawn on Monday.

Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan confirmed the civilian death toll to Dawn a day after the clash in which four law enforcement personnel were martyred.

The commissioner and AJK Inspector General (IG) Liaqat Ali Malik also told Dawn 30 people had been taken into custody late on Sunday. The officials also said that 23 policemen were injured during the clash.

The clash broke out after tensions flared over the death of a trader, who was allegedly shot during a confrontation with law enforcers on Friday night. Officials have accused the demonstrators of attacking the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalakot on Sunday.

Initially, his family had ann­ounced his funeral would be held on Saturday, but they later changed their mind and brought the body back to CMH, apparently for post-mortem examination, and deferred the funeral until Sunday.

The body was shifted to the hospital’s mortuary, but a post-mortem examination was not conducted. In the meantime, scores of people continued a sit-in outside CMH.

According to witnesses, when a police party arrived to disperse the protesters, a charged group of demonstrators confronted them. Riot police then resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the group. In response, the demonstrators pelted the police with stones, but no one was hurt.

The family of the deceased man, meanwhile, declared they would not bury him until the home department notification, proscribing the JAAC, was withdrawn.

Tensions have gripped AJK in recent days, with the region’s government declaring the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organisation and the latter insisting on its demand to abolish 12 refugee seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.

These are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. JAAC alleges that these seats were often used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad.

On Friday, the AJK government declared JAAC a proscribed organisation, days ahead of a planned protest by the group scheduled for June 9, stating that it was “engaged in terrorism” and had acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state. On Saturday, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas.

AJK police also sealed the head office of the JAAC, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the flow of information from AJK remains curtailed due to the closure of mobile data services. AJK authorities have also advised intending visitors to postpone their trips until June 20, citing security concerns ahead of the planned protests.

Islamabad has also dispatched federal paramilitary forces to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police force.