JAAC | Pakistan

MUZAFFARABAD: Shops and markets were largely shut and vehicular traffic remained minimal in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday as the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) observed a strike. Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days. During the day, Muzaffarabad’s streets were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads. Riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city. However, no demonstrations were witnessed in the capital. Meanwhile, reports from Mirpur said that hundreds of people had gathered in the town’s Quaid-i-Azam stadium. “Shops are closed here and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone. Witnesses in Kotli said that while the area observed a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike, hundreds of people led by JAAC core member Imtiaz Aslam were heading to...

The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has announced a reward of Rs10 million for information leading to the arrest of four leaders of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

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...

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, whose party holds the majority in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, said on Sunday he would meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the current situation in AJK, asserting that issues would be resolved through talks. He said this while presiding over a meeting of the PPP AJK parliamentary party in Islamabad, a statement issued by the PPP said. The meeting was held as tensions gripped AJK, 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. The group also plans to hold a protest on June 9, days ahead of June 27 elections in the region. The PPP statement said the party’s political affairs in-charge Faryal Talpur was also present at the meeting on Sunday where the political situation in AJK was reviewed. “Consultations were held between Bilawal and parliamentary party members regarding the AJK situation,”...

ISLAMABAD/MUZAFFARABAD - The police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) said on Saturday they had arrested 72 people linked to a banned protest group, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), during a security crackdown, alleging some detainees possessed weapons, suspicious documents and material aimed at disrupting public order in the.

• Police arrest at least 72 people, recover ‘weapons, suspicious documents’ • Situation tense in Poonch after trader gunned down in ‘clash with police’ MUZAFFARABAD: Auth­or­it­ies in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday launched a crackdown on the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas. “In fulfilment of its responsibility to maintain public order and protect the lives and properties of citizens, police have arrested around 72 people affiliated with the proscribed JAAC over the past 18 hours,” said a handout issued by a spokesperson for police chief Liaqat Ali Malik. “During initial action, weapons, communication gadgets, suspicious documents, material related to plans that could adversely affect public order and organised mechanisms for violent agitational activities had been found, in addition to indications of questionable contacts with patrons and foreigners which are being investigated under law,” it added. The police spokes...

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has declared the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) a proscribed organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), effectively banning the group ahead of its planned protest call on June 9.

Islamabad/MUZAFFARABAD - The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday officially declared the Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2014.

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Friday urged outsiders to avoid travelling to the region and asked current visitors to leave immediately, ahead of a major protest that has prompted the deployment of federal paramilitary troops. The strict travel advisory, effective from June 5 to June 20, comes in response to a strike call for June 9 by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a civil society alliance spearheading a volatile rights movement in the territory. “The measure is advised to save intending visitors from any unexpected situation or inconvenience,” an unnamed official spokesperson said in a press release issued by the region’s Press Information Department (PID). “The government also requests those already in the territory for sightseeing or any other purpose to leave by Friday evening so that they do not confront any unpleasant situation,” the spokesperson added. Zahid Aslam, who owns a guest house in Neelum Valley, told Dawn that the administration had urged him to ask hi...

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on Wednesday stated that it had accepted and implemented in letter and spirit almost all points of its agreement with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) that fell within its jurisdiction, adding that issues relating to the federal government could take some time. The federal government on October 4, 2025, signed an agreement with the JAAC to end the tense situation prevailing in the region since late September. The AJK government claimed it had resolved or was moving towards resolution of more than 90 per cent of the issues outlined by the JAAC. “We have implemented all matters that were within our domain. However, federally funded projects are approved through a defined process, and that naturally takes time,” Minister for Information and Religious Affairs Muhammad Rafique Nayyar said at a press conference. “Similarly, matters related to constitutional amendments also take time because they pass through different stages,” he added. Nayyar said the PPP-led gove...

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday that the conspiracy hatched by the ill-wishers of Pakistan has failed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the government will fully implement the commitments it has made with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). “The scenes that Pakistan’s ill-wishers wanted to see, the unrest, chaos and disorder in AJK, their conspiracy has failed. The federal government will fully implement the commitments it has made, and with the 15-day mechanism that has been established, I am confident that there will be no further opportunity for such grievances to arise again,” said the minister while addressing a press conference following the agreement between the two sides. Iqbal was accompanied by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Engineer Amir Muqam and PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira. The signing of the agreement comes after two rounds of talks between the high-level government delegation and the JAAC in as many days. Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government an...

MUZAFFARABAD - The government and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) are close to reach-ing an agreement as both sides held a high-level second round of talks to resolve the unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Friday night announced that the final round of negotiations with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had begun and an agreement was slated to be signed soon, in a bid to end ongoing unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Talks between the JAAC, the AJK government and federal ministers over elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees broke down last week. Rival groups have since staged protests, trading blame for violence that marred what began as a largely peaceful movement in AJK. Fierce clashes between protesters and law enforcers have left at least 10 people dead and scores critically injured in the territory. A fresh round of talks between a high-level government delegation and a civil society alliance was held yesterday, followed by another one today. Chaudhry, who is in Muzaffarabad as part of the federal government’s delegation, took to X and stated that matters between the two sides had been settled. “[The] final agreement is expected to...