MUZAFFARABAD: The Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Observatory (JKHRO), which has been documenting civilian casualties in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PaJK) since the unrest began on June 7, has updated its verified civilian death toll to 89.
The independent monitor's latest tally, covering the period from July 27 to August 5, adds three newly confirmed deaths in Muzaffarabad - Mir Fayyaz, who died on July 31; Raja Iqbal Khan, who died on August 2 after reportedly being wounded by gunfire in the Plate area; and Raja Ahsan of Neelum Valley, whose death was recorded the same day.
With these additions, JKHRO's current figures record 45 verified deaths from 27 July onward, comprising 37 linked to the Rawalakot incidents, three in Mirpur, four in Muzaffarabad and one in Bhimber, on top of 44 previously confirmed deaths from June 5 to July 26, bringing the running total to 89.
A further four cases, one each from Rawalakot, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Kotli, remain unverified, taking the total number of reported cases to 93. The observatory says verification remains ongoing and figures may be updated as more field evidence emerges.
On the ground in Rawalakot, reports said that a sit-in continues in the area, attended by thousands of people and addressed by local leaders, with no fresh incidents of violence reported. The demonstrations are being driven by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a now-banned coalition demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the regional legislature reserved for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir.
Legal fraternity calls for dialogue
Amid the standoff, The News reports that the region's bar associations have intervened. At a joint meeting hosted by the District Bar Association Mirpur, lawyers issued a declaration insisting the legal fraternity "could not remain a silent spectator" and calling on the Pakistani and PaJK governments to open "unconditional and meaningful talks" with JAAC representatives, stressing that any negotiations must rest on "mutual respect and sincerity rather than pressure or the use of force."
The bars also offered to serve as neutral mediators, and demanded the release of protesters, activists and lawyers detained during the demonstrations, along with an end to "the use of force, firing, violence and any form of coercive measures."
BBC access and government pushback
The BBC became the first media organisation to gain access to Rawalakot, reporting that dozens had been killed in the preceding two months and that a local clinic had treated 50 to 60 critically injured patients since July 27, with one doctor saying he had personally treated 15 to 20 gunshot wounds.
The regional government firmly rejected the report. The Express Tribune quotes PaJK Information Secretary Muhammad Rashid Hanif dismissing it as "biased and contrary to the facts," saying the "facts and figures presented in the report are not only incorrect but were also published without any verification or confirmation from any government institution, the police or the civil administration."
Hanif said seven law enforcement personnel had been killed and more than 45 seriously injured, blaming "armed elements" within JAAC, and rejected allegations that security forces had fired indiscriminately, deployed snipers or withheld bodies from families.
Press restrictions tighten
The friction with foreign media has since escalated into policy. Arab News reports that Islamabad has introduced sweeping new rules requiring foreign media journalists to register with the government and obtain accreditation and travel permits before reporting outside Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
The changes come days after the government publicly criticized international coverage of elections and unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, accusing broadcasters including Al Jazeera and BBC of bias and selective reporting.
Iqbal Khattak of Freedom Network told the outlet the rules "appear to restrict movement of journalists," warning that vague terms like "national security, public order or state ideology" could be used to "stop media and its practitioners from doing professional duty fearlessly."
Elections proceed amid rigging claims
The unrest has unfolded alongside staggered regional elections. Al Jazeera's explainer notes that residents and local estimates say the death toll has surpassed 50, including seven law enforcement personnel, while protest leaders claim more than 60 civilians have died in less than two months.
Rights group Amnesty International said on July 28 that at least 40 people have been killed, including 34 protesters and six police and paramilitary personnel, and has demanded a transparent investigation.
Amidst allegations of rigging and electoral manipulation, a separate Al Jazeera dispatch from Muzaffarabad describes a city where "markets, banks and petrol stations had been closed since Friday" ahead of polling.
PaJK police chief Liaqat Ali Malik defended his force, telling the outlet: "I have lost seven of my men. More than 200 of my officers have been injured in the last few weeks, but nobody wants to highlight the use of weapons by violent elements."
Residents described disillusionment with the process and one of them is reported to have said, "we came out for our rights, and we are being shot at directly."
Meanwhile, the PPP alleged widespread rigging, a charge the chief election commissioner rejected, arguing PMLN's own losses in some seats proved the vote was fair.
Newly elected lawmaker rape suspect in UK
Separately, The Guardian reports that Rukhsar Ahmed, a former Pakistani state minister newly elected to the PaJK legislative assembly on a PML-N ticket in the disputed Mirpur-phase vote, was arrested by Greater Manchester Police in July 2024 on suspicion of raping and trafficking vulnerable girls in the Rusholme area of Manchester in the 1990s, and remains on police bail.
According to the report, Ahmed, 62, was due to answer bail at a Manchester police station last month but did not attend, reportedly citing illness, while continuing to campaign in PaJK. These are allegations under active police investigation. Ahmed has not been charged.
Have you liked the news article?