AJK Officials Allege Armed Militants Orchestrated Regional Election Unrest

The federal government and regional administrators in Azad Jammu and Kashmir launched a concerted pushback against ongoing demonstrations on Tuesday, maintaining that the violence in Azad Jammu and Kashmir protests was driven by armed militants rather than genuine civil rights agitators. Officials alleged that participants linked to proscribed groups had infiltrated the movement to sabotage the remaining phases of the regional elections.

Federal Claims and Alleged Militant Infiltration

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that the unrest could not be classified as peaceful protest, asserting that armed militants, backed by hostile forces and foreign funding, were involved in attempts to destabilise the region. AJK Information Secretary Muhammad Rashid Hanif supported this position during a press briefing in Islamabad, stating that state authorities possessed credible information regarding members of banned organisations participating in the demonstrations.

According to Hanif, some individuals involved in the demonstrations were not ordinary protesters but had links with militant groups. Officials presented video footage purportedly showing masked and armed individuals positioned on rooftops. Hanif alleged that protest organisers used women and children as human shields while circulating narratives on social media designed to frame the unrest as a human rights movement.

Hanif added that armed individuals had infiltrated the protests under the cover of civilian demonstrators with the intent of disrupting the electoral schedule.

Security Forces Report Heavy Weapons and Casualties

AJK Police spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General Irfan Kashfi detailed the weaponry recovered during the clashes, noting that law enforcement personnel faced coordinated fire from elevated positions. Kashfi stated that law enforcement agencies would respond to armed individuals as they would to other militant threats.

• M-4 rifles
• AK-47s
• Submachine guns
• Sniper rifles

Kashfi reported that one police officer had embraced martyrdom during clashes while five others were injured. He also confirmed that authorities arrested a suspect in Rawalakot carrying a military-grade weapon, whom preliminary investigations identified as a foreign national operating as a sniper.

Prime Minister Rathore Alleges Preplanned Unrest

AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore separately asserted that the violence was organized to create maximum disruption during a sensitive political window. Rathore maintained that the violence had been planned well in advance to trigger widespread instability.

Rathore urged local residents to distance themselves from the demonstrations, pointing out that security personnel had been targeted from strategic positions. The regional administration previously declared the Joint Awami Action Committee a proscribed organisation on June 5 under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act, following weeks of heightened tension over demands that included the proposed abolition of 12 seats in the AJK Legislative Assembly.