Nine killed as protest march stalls in Pakistan-administered Kashmir

At least nine people have been killed in clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir as a planned protest march toward the regional capital, Muzaffarabad, was temporarily stalled. The violence unfolded on Tuesday amid rising tensions linked to a protest movement led by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee. Officials said the situation in and around Muzaffarabad was calm on Wednesday, but the unrest continued in other parts of the region.

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According to officials, security personnel raided a house on the outskirts of Rawalakot in Poonch district after receiving a tip-off about a weapons cache, but came under fire. One officer was killed in that incident. In a separate clash in Sudhnoti district, protesters blocked a security convoy and, authorities said, came under stones and gunfire.

Seven protesters and a police officer were killed in that confrontation, while police said the security personnel acted in self-defence. The latest deaths bring the toll from protests since June to at least 28, according to the supplied report. Protesters gathered under the committee's umbrella were still in Rawalakot on Wednesday evening, despite having said they would set off at 2pm that day.

The government has severely restricted internet and phone access in the region, making it harder to verify events directly and to reach people taking part in the demonstrations. The unrest matters because it is taking place in a politically sensitive region where disputes over representation and local governance have repeatedly fuelled confrontation. The current movement is tied to a long-running argument over 12 seats in the region's legislature reserved for Kashmiri refugees who moved to Pakistan after 1947 and now live outside the territory.

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The committee says that arrangement allows Pakistan-based political parties to influence the government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and divert development funds intended for local use. The committee was proscribed under anti-terrorism laws on 5 June, after which deadly protests have periodically rocked the region. That ban appears to have deepened the standoff rather than ending it, with supporters still able to gather in significant numbers in Rawalakot.

The reported crowd there was estimated by police at between 3,000 and 4,000 people, underlining the scale of the mobilisation despite restrictions. What remains unclear is whether the march toward Muzaffarabad will resume and how authorities will respond if it does. The extent of injuries, the identities of all those killed, and the precise sequence of events in each clash have not been independently verified in the supplied material.

For now, the key issues to watch are whether communications restrictions ease, whether the committee's supporters disperse or regroup, and whether the confrontation spreads beyond the current districts.

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