Overview
- Clashes between security forces and supporters of the Joint Awami Action Committee intensified this week, with reports that police and paramilitary units opened fire on protesters and mourners in Rawalakot and other towns.
- PoK authorities formally declared the JAAC a proscribed organisation, detained or sought its central leaders and sealed its offices while offering bounties for information on organisers.
- Telecom and internet services were suspended and reinforcements of Pakistan Federal Police and Rangers were deployed across Muzaffarabad and surrounding districts as markets and transport hubs stayed shut.
- Casualty figures are highly contested: local committees and some media cite dozens killed and hundreds injured, while an unverified intelligence dossier published in one outlet claims far higher civilian losses including children and pregnant women.
- India, Pakistan’s own Human Rights Commission and scores of UK MPs and diaspora protesters have called for investigations and accountability, raising the prospect that unrest will complicate governance and the scheduled PoK elections in late July.