In Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) the Pak Army launched an attack on leaders of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in Char Biyarh area, days after violent clashes between police and rights activists left three people dead.
The attack on JAAC leaders has drawn widespread condemnation, coming amid protests across PoJK over the killing of three Kashmiri youths – Waqar, Chaudhary Zaheer, and Saqib Fayaz – who lost their lives to bullets fired by Frontier Corps (FC) forces during recent demonstrations.
Large protests erupted in the region, with marchers demanding accountability from authorities for the violence against peaceful protesters and the release of incarcerated activists. A wheel-jam and shutter-down strike was also observed across the territory in response to the killings.
The attack on JAAC leaders, coupled with the violence abduction of poet and journalist Ahmad Farhad, has further strained PoJK populace, fueling calls for greater autonomy and an end to the human rights abuses in the region.