Other MoA event in Jammu and Kashmir, Rawalakot, Poonch District area, Pakistan on Sun 7th June 2026

At least seven civilians and four Policemen were killed while more than 70 protesters and 23 Policemen sustained injuries during June 7’s clash between Police and the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protesters in Rawalakot city of Poonch District in Pakistan Administered Jammu and Kashmir (PaJK), reports Dawn. Poonch District Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan confirmed the civilian death. The Commissioner and PaJK Inspector General of Police (IGP) Liaqat Ali Malik said that 30 people had been taken into custody late on June 7. The clash broke out after tensions flared over the death of a trader, who was allegedly shot during a confrontation with law enforcers on the night of June 6. Officials have accused the demonstrators of attacking the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalakot. Initially, his family had announced his funeral would be held on June 6, but they later changed their mind and brought the body back to CMH, apparently for post-mortem examination, and deferred the funeral until June 7. The body was shifted to the hospital’s mortuary, but a post-mortem examination was not conducted. In the meantime, scores of people continued a sit-in outside CMH. When a Police party arrived to disperse the protesters, a charged group of demonstrators confronted them. Riot police then resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the group. In response, the demonstrators pelted the police with stones, but no one was hurt. The family of the deceased man, meanwhile, declared they would not bury him until the home department notification, proscribing the JAAC, was withdrawn. Tensions have gripped PaJK in recent days, with the region’s Government declaring the JAAC a proscribed organisation on June 5 and the latter insisting on its demand to abolish 12 refugee seats in the PaJK Legislative Assembly. These are reserved for refugees from Indian Administered Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. JAAC alleges that these seats were often used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of Governments in Muzaffarabad. The PaJK Government declared JAAC a proscribed organisation, days ahead of a planned protest by the group scheduled for June 9, stating that it was “engaged in terrorism” and had acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state. On June 6, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas. AJK Police also sealed the head office of the JAAC.