Rawalakot Crackdown: Three Reported Killed as Security Forces Clear Months-Old Protest Camps in Azad Kashmir

At least three people were reported killed and 18 injured early on Thursday, 5 November 2026, when security forces moved to clear protest camps in Rawalakot, a city in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, ending a sit-in that had lasted almost five months. The death toll is disputed, the two sides tell sharply different stories about what happened, and the police have not confirmed any casualty figures.

The operation began at around 6:00 in the morning at several protest sites, including the Matiyal Mara bus terminal and D-Chowk, where demonstrators from the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had been camped since 5 June, demanding cheaper electricity, cheaper wheat flour and wide-ranging political and administrative reforms.

By the end of the day, the protest camps had been cleared, security forces controlled the bus terminal, and the district administration had imposed Section 144, banning public gatherings and restricting movement in the city. Protests were reported in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) called for an independent investigation and appealed to the United Nations and the European Union to intervene.

This is what happened, what each side says, and what is still not known.

What happened on Thursday morning

According to the Kashmir Times, which reported from Rawalakot, security forces launched the operation at around 6:00 AM at several protest sites at once. The main targets were the Matiyal Mara bus terminal — the city’s central bus station, where protesters had set up their camp — and D-Chowk, also known as Umar Farooq Chowk, another long-running protest site.

JAAC core committee member Umar Nazir said security forces surrounded the protest camps from several directions and attacked using drones. “A state of war has been imposed upon us,” he said, adding that drone attacks had been going on for two to three hours. Committee activists said security personnel advanced towards the camps from multiple directions before taking up positions around the gathering points.

Residents reported hearing intense gunfire and explosions that could be heard several kilometres away. Some said the force of the explosions caused tremors in surrounding neighbourhoods. A house near the bus terminal caught fire, and social media accounts linked to JAAC claimed the fire was caused by a drone strike or a mortar shell. There was no independent confirmation of the cause of the fire.

Mobile phone services around the bus terminal were disrupted, which made it difficult for journalists and residents to contact people in the area or to establish exactly what had happened and in what order. The Azadi Times, reporting from the region, said photographs and videos circulating on social media showed security personnel outside the two-storey bus terminal building.

The conflicting casualty figures

The most important fact about Thursday’s operation — how many people died — is also the most uncertain. Different sources give different numbers, and none of them has been independently confirmed.

The JAAC and the Kashmir Times both reported three deaths. According to JAAC sources, the three people reported killed at D-Chowk were Ehtisham, Atif Noor and Adil Rashid. Ehtisham and Atif Noor were residents of Chamba Nar, while Adil Rashid belonged to Mang Mor, both in the Rawalakot area. The UKPNP, which condemned the operation, named the same three men and gave their ages: Atif Jardees, 35, Ehtisham Younis, 30, and Adil Rashid, 32. Atif Jardees was described as a father of four.

The JAAC also released a preliminary list of 18 people it said were injured. They were named as Qamar Kafeel, Usman, Waqar Shakeel, Anas Amin, Siyam Amjad, Ijaz Khan, Waqas Riaz, Bilal Mahmood, Ahsan Tariq, Sufyan, Abdullah, Ehtisham Muhammad, Bilal, Kamran Rashid, Yarira, Waseem Sadiq, Irfan and Zain Khurshid. The injured were reported to come from several localities, including Tarar Hussain Kot, Banjosa, Jandali, Hajira, Khaigala, Chiroti Dareek, Rairh Ban, Namnota, Chhota Gala, Dhamni, Mirpur, Chak Barmang, Tarar, Shamsabad and Devi Gali.

Other reports put the death toll higher. Local journalist Ajmal Shaheen was quoted by Kashgil News as saying five civilians had been killed, naming a fourth victim, Ahsan Tariq of Nanota, with a fifth victim unidentified. Ahsan Tariq had appeared on the JAAC’s own initial list of injured people. The UKPNP, in a statement carried by the news agency IANS, alleged that at least seven people had been killed.

The police have not confirmed any death toll. A statement from the spokesperson for the Deputy Inspector General of Police in the Poonch region acknowledged reports of injuries among police personnel and people it described as armed individuals, but it provided no confirmed casualty figures.

Social media accounts associated with the JAAC also claimed that four children had died in the house fire near the bus terminal. There was no independent confirmation of the reported deaths of the children, the cause of the fire, or the alleged use of drones and mortar shells.

What the protesters say

The JAAC says the operation was an attack on a peaceful protest. Its representatives accused security forces of using drones and heavy weapons against demonstrators who had been sitting peacefully at the bus terminal and D-Chowk for 153 days.

Umar Nazir, a core committee member, said the protest sites were attacked from all four sides. He described what protesters faced as warlike conditions, with drone attacks continuing for two to three hours.

The UKPNP, which supports the JAAC, said in a statement issued from Geneva that security forces had targeted peaceful sit-ins with heavy machine guns, armoured vehicles and drones. Its spokesperson, Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, said a house belonging to Shakeel Khan near the Matialmera Bus Terminal was destroyed by fire following an alleged drone attack. The party called for an independent investigation into the reported killings, injuries, alleged drone attacks and destruction of homes, and said transparent investigations were necessary to establish the facts and determine who was responsible.

What the police say

The police tell a very different story. In a statement issued by the spokesperson for the Deputy Inspector General of Police in the Poonch region, the authorities said the operation was undertaken to remove illegal obstructions from public roads near the bus terminal and restore freedom of movement.

Police alleged that armed individuals opened indiscriminate fire on law enforcement personnel during the operation, prompting a response. The statement acknowledged injuries among police personnel and those it described as armed individuals, but gave no numbers.

The police also linked the operation to an earlier incident involving Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Akram of Sudhnoti district. According to the police account, the judge had been stopped while travelling through the area several days earlier and allegedly held unlawfully. The police spokesperson accused social media users of circulating misleading information intended to create fear and panic, and urged residents not to rely on unverified reports and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in restoring normal life.

The statement did not address the JAAC’s specific allegations about drone strikes or the reported civilian deaths.

Police accounts themselves appeared to differ. The Azadi Times reported that a spokesperson for the Inspector General of Police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir had rejected social media claims of a police operation, shelling and firing at the protest site — even as the Poonch police spokesperson described the operation to clear obstructions. At the government level, no official press release had been issued about the operation, the casualties or the alleged drone strikes as of Thursday.

Restrictions imposed in Rawalakot

Following the operation, the district administration imposed Section 144, a legal order that restricts public gatherings and movement. Announcements from local mosques instructed residents to remain indoors and warned against gatherings of five or more people.

At the same time, there were competing announcements: mosques in areas supporting the JAAC had earlier called on residents to assemble at the D-Chowk protest site, and after the operation people from Rawalakot and surrounding districts began gathering at the Eidgah protest site, raising fears of further unrest.

Reaction beyond Rawalakot

News of the reported killings prompted demonstrations in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Students gathered at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and at Upper Adda, protesting the security operation and demanding accountability for the reported deaths. Demonstrators raised slogans against the security forces, including accusations that uniformed personnel were responsible for violence against civilians.

The UKPNP called on the United Nations, the European Union, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France — as well as Germany, to urgently address what it called the deteriorating situation in Rawalakot and other affected areas. The party also referred to an earlier communication by UN human rights experts to the Government of Pakistan about alleged human rights violations in the region, citing UN reference AL PAK 4/2026. Six UN Special Rapporteurs had earlier raised concerns over Pakistan’s designation of the JAAC as a terrorist organisation.

Why protesters have been sitting there for five months

To understand why the camps existed at all, it helps to go back to the start of the movement. The JAAC is a broad coalition of traders, lawyers, transporters, students and other civil society groups in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It first came together in late 2022 and 2023, when anger over inflated electricity bills and rising wheat flour prices brought people onto the streets.

In October 2025, after a region-wide shutdown that left close to ten people dead, the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the JAAC signed the Muzaffarabad Agreement, built around the 38-point charter. It promised relief on electricity and wheat prices, free medical care, free and uniform education, and reforms.

By April 2026, independent reviews found most of the charter unimplemented, even as officials publicly claimed that 37 of the 38 demands had been met. The JAAC gave the government until 31 May 2026 to act, then announced a long march to Muzaffarabad for 9 June.

The government moved first. On 5 June 2026, the day the sit-in at Rawalakot began, the Azad Kashmir cabinet banned the JAAC under the Anti-Terrorism Act, reinstated 177 previously withdrawn criminal cases against its members, and cut internet, mobile and landline services across the region. The same day, JAAC activist Shahzaib Habib was fatally wounded when police intercepted a vehicle near Barmang bridge, and a sit-in formed outside the Combined Military Hospital where his body was taken.

Violence followed. On 7 June, accounts diverged sharply: police said armed JAAC members had opened fire first, killing four security personnel, while the JAAC said forces had fired into a peaceful sit-in, killing seven of their own. An international rights group later reported more than 30 deaths in Rawalakot between 8 and 16 June and demanded an independent international investigation.

The region’s Supreme Court ruled on 7 June that the 12 refugee seats are constitutionally protected and can only be abolished through a constitutional amendment — a ruling that went against one of the JAAC’s central demands. The JAAC boycotted the subsequent election, and turnout fell to about 48 percent, a drop of 13 points.

Through all of this, the sit-in at Rawalakot’s bus terminal continued. By Thursday it had lasted 153 days, making it one of the longest-running protests in the region’s recent history.

What is still not confirmed

Much about Thursday’s operation remains disputed or unknown:

• The death toll. Three deaths are reported by the JAAC and the Kashmir Times; five are claimed by a local journalist; seven are claimed by the UKPNP. The police have confirmed none of these figures.
• The alleged drone strikes. The JAAC says drones were used for two to three hours. The police statement did not address the allegation, and there is no independent confirmation.
• The house fire. A house near the bus terminal caught fire. Whether it was caused by a drone strike, a mortar shell or something else is not confirmed. Claims that four children died in the fire are also unconfirmed.
• Who fired first. The JAAC says security forces attacked a peaceful sit-in. The police say armed individuals opened fire on officers who were removing barricades. Neither account has been independently verified, and mobile services were disrupted around the bus terminal, making it harder to establish the sequence of events.
• The official position. No official press release had been issued by the government about the operation, the casualties or the alleged drone strikes as of Thursday.

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the situation in Rawalakot calms down or escalates further. The camps that anchored the protest for five months have been cleared, but people were already gathering at the Eidgah site on Thursday, and protests spread to Muzaffarabad within hours. The JAAC has demanded accountability for the reported deaths, and the UKPNP has called for an independent investigation. Whether the government orders one — and whether the police release confirmed casualty figures — will shape what happens next.

The deeper question is the one that has been open since the Muzaffarabad Agreement was signed more than a year ago: whether the 38-point charter will ever be implemented in full. The government says most of it has been done; the JAAC says it has not. Until that gap is closed, the confrontation that produced Thursday’s violence is unlikely to be the last.

Frequently asked questions

What is the JAAC?

The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee is a coalition of traders, lawyers, transporters, students and other civil society groups in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It campaigns on everyday issues — electricity prices, wheat flour prices, health care, education — and on political reforms, including the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan.

What is the 38-point charter?

It is the list of demands agreed in the Muzaffarabad Agreement of October 2025 between the JAAC and the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It covers electricity and wheat prices, free medical care, free and uniform education, judicial and governance reforms, and the reserved assembly seats. The government says 37 of the 38 points have been met; the JAAC says most of the charter remains unimplemented.

How many people were killed on 5 November?

That is not confirmed. The JAAC and the Kashmir Times reported three deaths, a local journalist reported five, and the UKPNP alleged seven. The police have not confirmed any death toll.

What is Section 144?

Section 144 is a legal order that bans public gatherings and restricts movement in an area. The district administration imposed it in Rawalakot after Thursday’s operation.

Why is the death toll disputed?

Because mobile phone services were disrupted around the bus terminal, because the two sides give conflicting accounts, and because no official casualty figures have been released. Independent verification has not been possible so far.

Sources

– Kashmir Times, “3 Dead, 18 Injured as Forces Crack Down on Rawalakot Protests”, 5 November 2026 — https://kashmirtimes.com/news/3-killed-18-injured-forces-storm-rawalakot-protest-camps

– Kashgil News, “Alleged Crackdown on 153-Day-Long JKJAAC Sit-ins in Rawalakot; Reports of 5 Civilian Deaths”, 5 November 2026 — https://kashgilnews.com/english/3604/

– IANS via The Freedom Press, “Seven killed, 18 injured in PoK as Pakistani forces target protesters with gunfire and drones”, 5 November 2026 — https://thefreedompress.in/seven-killed-18-injured-in-pok-as-pakistani-forces-target-protesters-with-gunfire-and-drones/

– The Azadi Times, “Security Forces Take Control of Rawalakot Bus Terminal After Months-Long Sit-In; Reports of Gunfire and Injuries Emerge”, 5 November 2026 — https://azaditimes.com/news/kashmir/security-forces-take-control-of-rawalakot-bus-terminal-after-months-long-sit-in-reports-of-gunfire-and-injuries-emerge/

– Daily Byte, “Rawalakot crackdown: three reported killed as forces clear protest camps”, 5 November 2026 — https://dailybyte.pk/blog/rawalakot-crackdown-protest-camps-three-reported-killed-5-november-2026

– South Asia Solidarity Group, “‘JAAC is very much a people’s movement and should be treated like that by the Pakistani state.’ – Understanding Azad Kashmir’s Long March”, June 2026 — https://southasiasolidarity.org/jaac-is-very-much-a-peoples-movement-and-should-be-treated-like-that-by-the-pakistani-state-understanding-azad-kashmirs-long-march/

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.