Girl Killed in Rawalakot, Police, Protesters Trade Blame

MUZAFFARABAD: A young girl was reportedly killed and another seriously injured in firing in Rawalakot, Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday, with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and district police offering sharply conflicting accounts of the incident.

The committee alleged that security personnel opened fire on two girls playing in the courtyard of their home near Nargola Waterfall, killing Ayesha Saqib and injuring another girl.

Rawalakot district police, however, blamed armed individuals allegedly associated with the JAAC, saying they opened indiscriminate fire on police personnel near the Mutialmera bus terminal, leaving two local girls, identified as Ayesha Saqib and Javeria Saqib, seriously injured.

While both accounts acknowledge that two girls were struck by bullets, they differ over who fired the shots, where the shooting occurred and the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Significantly, the police statement described both girls as seriously injured but did not address the committee's claim that Ayesha had subsequently died.

The reported death could not be independently confirmed, and no verified hospital record or medical statement establishing the girl's condition was immediately available.

The incident has intensified concerns over civilian safety in Rawalakot, where security operations, prolonged public protests and restrictions on political activists have kept tensions high for several months.

Conflicting Accounts

According to the JAAC, the two girls were playing inside their residential compound near Nargola Waterfall when security forces allegedly fired at them on November 12.

The committee identified Ayesha Saqib as the girl who died and held security personnel responsible for the shooting.

District police rejected the allegation and accused armed individuals associated with the committee of firing at officers deployed near the Mutialmera bus terminal.

A police spokesperson alleged that armed groups had repeatedly targeted security personnel and civilians, causing deaths and injuries, before attempting to shift responsibility onto law enforcement agencies.

The spokesperson said police would continue operations against individuals involved in unlawful and violent activities.

The two versions leave several important questions unanswered, including the precise location of the shooting, the direction from which bullets were fired and whether the children were caught in an exchange of fire or directly targeted.

Neither account has been independently substantiated. The conflicting claims have renewed demands for an impartial investigation, including examination of medical evidence, eyewitness testimony and the circumstances in which the girls sustained their injuries.

In a separate development, the Home Department of Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir has issued a notification placing nine additional individuals associated with the JAAC on the Fourth Schedule under the region's Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014.

The notification, dated November 3, includes Zohaib Kayani, son of Muhammad Fareed Kayani, and Javed Iqbal Kayani, son of Khairullah, both from Muzaffarabad.

According to the notification, the individuals are associated with the JAAC, which the authorities have declared a proscribed organisation under Section 12 of the legislation.

However, the notification, as described in documents made available to Kashmir Times, does not specify individual allegations or explain the separate grounds for placing each person on the Fourth Schedule.

Such listing subjects individuals to restrictions and monitoring under anti-terrorism legislation, raising questions about the application of security laws to members of a movement campaigning over economic, administrative and political grievances.

Explosions, Shooting Allegations

The latest incident follows reports of explosions in Rawalakot's Supply Bazaar and Qasai Gali areas on November 11.

The JAAC alleged that security forces were responsible for the explosions and claimed that a motorcyclist had been shot before personnel removed his motorcycle from the scene.

A day earlier, on November 10, a security flag march was conducted through Rawalakot involving police, Rangers and military vehicles.

According to local accounts, the convoy included three armoured vehicles and two Pakistan Army vehicles, alongside police and paramilitary transport.

The deployment marked a visible show of security presence in the city following several days of confrontations around protest locations.

The precise route and purpose of the flag march were not independently established.

The developments follow a major security operation on November 5, when law enforcement personnel took control of the Rawalakot bus terminal, ending a protest occupation that had continued for several months.

Police maintained that armed protesters fired on officers during the clearance operation. The JAAC disputed that account and accused security forces of initiating the violence.

Casualty figures from those confrontations remain disputed.

Meanwhile, police confirmed that Sindh Rangers officer Naik Bostan Khan, who was injured during firing on November 5, subsequently died of his injuries.

The reported shooting of the two girls on Thursday has added a new and particularly troubling dimension to the confrontation.