JAAC threatens renewed march on Muzaffarabad if July 14 deadline passes

• JAAC sets July 14 deadline for ‘acceptance’ of its demands
• Two people were killed near Rawalakot as security forces cleared a road for a food convoy.

MUZAFFARABAD – The proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) announced on Thursday that it will resume its long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15 unless its demands are met by July 14.

In a speech to participants at the Eidgah sit‑in, core member Umar Nazir Kashmiri warned that the alliance would stage a fresh march if its charter of demands was not implemented by the set deadline.

He explained that the march, halted in Rawalakot on June 10, would resume under the standard operating procedures previously announced.

“We are again demanding implementation of our charter by July 14. If there is no progress by the evening of July 14, we will issue a fresh announcement on July 15. That day will mark not merely our demands but also a new course of action,” he said.

Kashmiri urged citizens across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to begin preparations for the July 15 rally and appealed to national and international media, political parties, and human‑rights organisations to monitor the event.

He acknowledged the efforts of Pakistani opposition leaders to mediate peace but remarked that the initiative arrived too late.

An interim organisational arrangement was also announced. With Shaukat Nawaz Mir and several other core members from Muzaffarabad arrested, Sahib‑zada Khalid Waqas, Raja Saeed Ahmed, Syed Shujaat Kazmi, Malik Adeel, Raja Iftikhar and Advocate Ali Raza will serve as interim core members for the Muzaffarabad division.

Two people were killed during an exchange of fire in Poonch district when law‑enforcement personnel sought to clear a road block for a food convoy.

Poonch Commissioner Sardar Waheed Khan told Dawn that a food convoy escorted by security forces was travelling from Bagh to Rawalakot in the early hours of Thursday. Near Kotehri village, where JAAC activists had been holding a sit‑in, the convoy encountered a blockade.

Kotehri lies about four kilometres from the outskirts of Rawalakot on the Bagh side, roughly the same distance as the main protest camp at Eidgah Ground in the opposite direction.

An additional security detail from Rawalakot was dispatched to protect the convoy. When the reinforcements reached Kotehri, they came under fire from a nearby forest, prompting a reciprocal exchange that left one or two protesters injured.

The convoy later linked up at Shujaabad with the food trucks coming from the opposite direction, but again came under fire. “The forces responded, and two or three people were wounded,” Khan said.

In a subsequent written statement, the Poonch administration alleged that armed JAAC activists had blocked major routes to Rawalakot by felling trees and placing boulders on roads, disrupting essential supplies.

Security personnel cleared the Bagh‑Rawalakot road under heavy fire, and the route was reopened for food supplies. Two fatalities were confirmed; the administration is verifying unconfirmed reports of a third death.

The food convoy reached Rawalakot safely by 10:30 am. Law‑enforcement personnel remained on site until about 3 pm to assist civilian traffic before withdrawing.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2026

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