Authorities in Azad Jammu and Kashmir say the situation surrounding the banned JAAC has moved well beyond street protest, describing an organisation that has armed itself and is now directly targeting police and law enforcement personnel across the region. The claim, repeated in briefings this week from Rawalakot to Kotli, marks a hardening of the government’s position on a group it outlawed under anti-terrorism legislation earlier this month.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Addressing a press conference in Rawalakot, AJK police spokesperson SSP Khawar Ali Shaukat said law enforcement agencies were continuing operations against armed groups that have taken positions in buildings across the city and opened fire on security personnel. He said the banned outfit, formally known as the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, had failed to mobilise broad public support in recent weeks and had instead resorted to armed confrontation. Police said sophisticated weapons, including automatic firearms, had been recovered from suspects arrested during the operations.
The unrest is not confined to one town. Police in Kotli have separately accused armed groups of attacking security forces there, with officials vowing decisive action against what they describe as militant elements operating under the JAAC banner. A police statement carried by regional outlets said officers were pursuing a “no concession” approach toward what they termed miscreants, while continuing to distinguish between ordinary demonstrators and those engaged in armed violence.
Banned JAAC: From Protest Movement to Armed Group
The group’s designation as a proscribed organisation dates to early June, when the AJK government formally banned JAAC under the Anti-Terrorism Act, accusing it of engaging in terrorism rather than peaceful advocacy. JAAC had originally organised around demands including the abolition of AJK legislative seats reserved for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir, framing its campaign as a rights movement. Officials, however, say the group’s tactics escalated well beyond that mandate, pointing to attacks on a military hospital, a police armoured vehicle, and individual officers in the weeks preceding the ban.
The violence has since claimed lives on both sides of the confrontation. A Rangers sepoy was killed and several police officers wounded in one Rawalakot attack near a bus terminal, an incident authorities say involved indiscriminate gunfire and explosives in a civilian area. The AJK government responded by announcing a reward of Rs10 million for information leading to the arrest of four wanted JAAC leaders, while simultaneously launching what officials called a clearance operation to reopen roads and restore normal movement through affected districts.
State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry has framed the unrest in explicitly political terms, telling reporters in Islamabad that the federal government would fully support AJK’s administration in confronting the agitation, which he characterised as an attempt to strip Kashmiris of their right to vote rather than a genuine rights campaign. That framing has taken on added weight as the violence has coincided directly with the ongoing AJK general elections, with authorities alleging the group is deliberately timing its actions to disrupt polling.
For readers seeking primary documentation of the government’s position, the Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s official portal carries notifications related to the group’s proscription, while the National Counter Terrorism Authority maintains Pakistan’s national list of banned organisations. The Election Commission of Pakistan has separately been overseeing the conduct of the AJK polls during which this unrest has unfolded.
Analysis: A Local Dispute That Has Outgrown Its Original Grievance
What began as a campaign over reserved legislative seats has, over the space of roughly two months, turned into one of the more serious internal security challenges AJK has faced in recent memory. The shift matters because it changes the tools available to the state. A banned organisation accused of using automatic weapons and explosives against security forces is treated fundamentally differently, legally and operationally, than a protest movement pressing a political grievance — and that reclassification is precisely what AJK’s government has pursued since the June proscription.
The timing relative to the elections raises the stakes further. Whether or not JAAC’s stated aim is electoral disruption, as officials allege, the practical effect of gun battles, arson and blocked roads in Rawalakot and Kotli is to complicate polling logistics in exactly the districts where confrontations have occurred. That gives the unrest a political dimension well beyond its origins, and it is likely why federal officials in Islamabad, rather than only AJK’s local administration, have stepped in to publicly frame the confrontation.
Expect the coming weeks to bring continued clearance operations in both cities, further arrests tied to the Rs10 million bounty on named leaders, and close scrutiny of how election authorities manage voting in areas still affected by unrest. The durability of any calm will likely depend on whether the state’s crackdown succeeds in isolating armed elements from the broader base of residents who initially joined the protests over the reserved-seats issue.
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Where Things Stand
As of this week, operations remain active in both Rawalakot and Kotli, with police reporting fresh weapons seizures from arrested suspects and continued efforts to reopen roads sealed off during the unrest. The government has not indicated any timeline for winding down the security operation, and officials say it will continue until public order is fully restored and essential supply routes are secured.
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