RAWALAKOT: Law enforcement agencies continue operations against armed groups carrying out attacks against security personnel in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Rawalakot, a top police official said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference in Rawalakot, AJK police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khawar Ali Shaukat, said that armed attackers have taken positions in different buildings across the city.
His remarks come amid violent clashes in the city involving supporters of the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) amid general elections in the region.
The AJK government had declared JAAC a proscribed organisation on June 5 under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), accusing the group of involvement in terrorism.
The ban was imposed days before the committee’s planned June 9 protest demanding the abolition of 12 AJK Assembly seats reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
During today’s presser, SSP Shaukat said that armed groups continue carrying out attacks on law enforcement personnel in different areas, adding that no concession would be given to “miscreant elements”.
According to the official, at least one Rangers personnel was martyred in the attacks as enforcement agencies continue operations against the armed groups.
The AJK police spokesperson said that police arrested several miscreants during the ongoing operations and recovered sophisticated weapons.
Terming the attacks on security forces and state institutions “unacceptable”, he maintained that state institutions had consistently exercised restraint.
Those involved in attacks against state institutions would be dealt with “with an iron hand”, he said.
SSP Shaukat said that the “links” of the miscreants extended elsewhere and claimed that anti-state elements were spreading negative propaganda on social media.
He vowed that authorities would not allow peace in the region to be undermined.
Polls amid violence
The federal government has termed the violence involving the banned JAAC an attempt to disrupt the ongoing electoral process and undermine peace in the region.
State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Tuesday said that the federal government would fully support the AJK administration to crush agitators.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad alongside Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the minister said that the banned outfit’s campaign was “not a movement to secure rights, but one aimed at taking rights away from the people”.
He alleged that the proscribed group was seeking to deprive Kashmiris of their right to vote and undermine the democratic process.
The first phase of the AJK elections was held on July 27, with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) securing victory in nine constituencies, according to unofficial and provisional results.
Polling was held across all 13 constituencies in Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts. According to the unofficial results, the PML-N won nine seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured four.
