{"id":111391,"date":"2026-07-29T15:25:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ajk-police-accuse-jaac-of-targeting-leas-say-26-personnel-martyred-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T15:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:25:03","slug":"ajk-police-accuse-jaac-of-targeting-leas-say-26-personnel-martyred-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ajk-police-accuse-jaac-of-targeting-leas-say-26-personnel-martyred-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"AJK police accuse JAAC of targeting LEAs, say 26 personnel martyred this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Police on Wednesday said that 26 personnel were martyred this year during incidents of unrest as they accused the proscribed<\/u><\/a> Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) of deliberately targeting law enforcement agencies (LEAs).<\/p>\n

Addressing a press conference, AJK police spokesperson and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Riaz Mughal said that members of the proscribed JAAC were \u201cmartyring and injuring rangers and police personnel\u201d in AJK.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2026 only, 26 of our personnel were martyred, while 157 were seriously injured, and 629 faced minor injuries,\u201d he said, without mentioning the specific incidents in which the casualties occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this figure, how can you say that they are peaceful protesters?\u201d the SSP asked.<\/p>\n

The police spokesperson further said, \u201cOur institutions don\u2019t target anyone. We only target those who target our personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police official\u2019s remarks come after clashes between protesters and law enforcement personnel in Rawalakot on Monday and Mirpur on Tuesday, which reportedly resulted in several casualties.<\/p>\n

The JAAC, which has been demanding the abolishment of 12 seats in the local legislature reserved for refugees from Indian-held Kashmir, has been holding protests in the region for several weeks now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening to police, rangers and other people? They (JAAC members) have held people captive and taken their IDs? Do people not see this?\u201d the SSP said.<\/p>\n

The police spokesperson suggested that one should go to AJK and impartially witness the situation and the kind of people who were staging sit-ins there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have snipers. They target people who are from our institutions and police,\u201d he said, stressing how the JAAC supporters could be called peaceful people who did nothing.<\/p>\n

SSP Mughal also presented weaponry allegedly recovered from the protesters during different operations. \u201cThey use this weapon against law enforcement people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson emphasised that these were \u201canti-state\u201d individuals who were carrying out \u201cterrorist activities\u201d under a plan.<\/p>\n

Moreover, he claimed that 70 per cent of the protesters were \u201ccriminals\u201d, including drug dealers who had taken shelter under the JAAC\u2019s banner.<\/p>\n

SSP Mughal emphasised that these were \u201canti-state\u201d people.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the government accused militant elements \u201cpursuing a foreign agenda and backed by Indian funding\u201d of fomenting the unrest. On the other hand, the JAAC alleged that dozens of its supporters were killed in clashes with security personnel, but there was no official confirmation of the claim from any quarters.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018JAAC working under an agenda\u2019<\/h2>\n

Earlier in the day, SSP Khawar Ali Shaukat from AJK Police accused the JAAC of working under an \u201cagenda\u201d, saying that sophisticated weapons had been seized from arrested suspects.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>
Senior Superintendent of Police Khawar Ali Shaukat addresses a press conference in Rawlakot on Wednesday. \u2014 DawnNewsTV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Addressing a press conference, SSP Shaukat alleged that the incidents in Rawalakot had demonstrated that the organisation\u2019s narrative of peaceful protest was inconsistent with events on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe violent incidents, acts of provocation and attacks on security forces have made the reality clear,\u201d he said, adding that it was the legal and constitutional responsibility of LEAs to act whenever police or other security personnel came under attack.<\/p>\n

The SSP alleged that armed groups had ambushed officials at different locations across the city over the past two days and opened fire on security personnel with sophisticated weapons.<\/p>\n

He said one Rangers official was martyred while around 15 police officers and other law enforcement personnel were injured in the attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis demonstrates that the proscribed group is working under an agenda, the purpose of which is to disrupt peace in AJK, disturb the social fabric and damage the atmosphere of brotherhood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe events of yesterday and today, the way our forces have been attacked with heavy and sophisticated weapons, show that these groups \u2026 this is not an ordinary organisation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said law enforcement agencies had arrested several suspects allegedly involved in the violence and recovered a large cache of arms, including heavy weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn automatic American weapon was also recovered,\u201d he said, adding that this indicated that the banned organisation was operating under a \u201cdifferent agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rejecting what he described as a misleading narrative circulating on social media, Shaukat said the group was falsely portraying itself as peaceful while accusing security forces of targeting protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facts on the ground are contrary to those claims,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

He maintained that law enforcement agencies had exercised restraint throughout the situation and only responded when their personnel came under attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Police on Wednesday said that 26 personnel were martyred this year during incidents of unrest as they accused the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) of deliberately targeting law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Addressing a press conference, AJK police spokesperson and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Riaz Mughal said that members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2026\/07\/291207131427fc5.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t