Recent clashes in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir resulted in the deaths of at least eight civilians, including a lawyer and a doctor.
At least eight civilians were killed in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in fresh clashes that erupted between locals and Pakistani security personnel. Among the deceased were a female lawyer and a doctor in Kotli area of the PoK.
According to sources, the deceased have been identified as advocate Aroosa; Dr. Ahsan Saleem, British-Kashmiri Muhammad Akhtar, Chaudhry Ehtesham an activist and volunteer associated with the Life Line Foundation , Goga Bhai, and Haseeb Naqash.
Dozens of protesters who were marching towards Muzafferabad suffered injuries after Pakistani Rangers opened indiscriminate firing and tear shelling on them. Local residents alleged that Pakistani troops ransacked the Kotli hospital, locked medical staff, and denied treatment to the injured.
Notably, Ehtesham-ul-Haq, a resident of Khoi Ratta and graduate of the English Department, University of Kotli, served as a key member of the Life Line Foundation, a prominent civil society organization operating in Kotli, PoK. He was also the nephew of Deputy Superintendent of Police Kotli, Chaudhry Shehzad.
The protests erupted after the PoK government banned the JAAC, a grassroots movement that has gained support for raising issues such as rising inflation, electricity tariffs, taxation policies, and what its supporters describe as the region’s long-standing political marginalisation.
