At Least 17 Reportedly Killed as Rangers and Police Open Fire on JKJAAC Long March in Rawalakot

RAWALAKOT: At least 17 people were reportedly killed and several others injured after Pakistani Rangers and police opened fire on participants of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee’s long march as protest convoys moved into Rawalakot on July 27, according to local sources and a preliminary casualty list shared by journalist Haris Qadeer.

The long march began from Rawalakot earlier in the day following the failure of negotiations between JKJAAC and the authorities over the movement’s outstanding demands. As thousands of participants advanced into the city, local sources reported intense firing and clashes at different entry points and around central Rawalakot.

According to Qadeer, two protest convoys succeeded in entering the city, while Pakistani Rangers and police stopped the main convoy near Chinar Chowk.

Videos, eyewitness accounts and information received by Kashmiriat’s local sources indicated that security personnel used live ammunition against protesters. The complete circumstances surrounding each death could not immediately be independently established, while hospitals and families continued to receive casualties.

Qadeer said the following names had emerged from social-media reports and local contacts:

1. Usman Nazir — Rawalakot
2. Muhammad Muzammil Ali — Sojjal
3. Zargham Khalil — Darak
4. Naeem Butt — Kotli
5. Fida Hussain — Garala, Tararkhal
6. Faheem Afzal — Chhota Gala
7. Kashif Yaqoob — Chhota Gala
8. Saqib Hanif — Reerh Ban, Rawalakot
9. Saqib Ishaq — Namb Gawara, Pallandri
10. Nisar — Dhaman, Pakhonar
11. Adeel Asghar — Tatta Pani
12. Basit Shah — Hajira
13. An unidentified son of Mushtaq — Hajira
14. Usman Gul — Darak Dhok
15. Zafeer Pehlwan — Tararkhal
16. Nisar Shaheen — Pakhonar

A young man from Bai Baikh was also reported among those killed, although his identity had not been confirmed when this report was filed.

The casualty list remains preliminary and may change as families, medical facilities and local reporters verify names. The latest killings followed the JKJAAC core committee’s decision to revive the Muzaffarabad long march after the authorities reportedly refused to provide written acceptance of the movement’s remaining demands. Protesters from Mirpur Division had been asked to reach Rawalakot before joining the march.

The violence occurred on the same day that voting began in Mirpur Division during the first phase of the Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections.

Previous JKJAAC protests have also been met with arrests, communication restrictions and deadly force. Earlier clashes in June and July killed protesters as well as members of the security forces, with local and international reporting documenting sharply disputed accounts of how the violence began.

Monday’s reported deaths represent a major escalation in the confrontation between Kashmir’s civil resistance movement and the Pakistani security apparatus deployed in the region.

Kashmiriat will continue updating the names, casualty figures and conditions of the injured through its local sources as further verified information becomes available.