Azad Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Inspector General Raja Akmal confirmed that reports were received regarding gunfire directed at the convoy of former AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Friday. Investigations are ongoing, and authorities have pledged to take strict action against those responsible for the attack.
The shooting occurred in the Tain-Dhalkot area, where Ilyas’ security guard, Muhammad Asif, lost his life. Several other individuals traveling with the former prime minister sustained injuries during the incident. Ilyas had left Islamabad earlier that day for a two-day visit to Rawalakot when the attack took place.
This violent episode comes just weeks before the July 27 elections for the 53-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. Notably, earlier this month, Tanveer Ilyas announced his decision to join the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) after meeting with IPP President Abdul Aleem Khan and State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Awn Choudhary. This move followed his resignation from the Pakistan Peoples Party’s AJK chapter, triggered by unsuccessful negotiations over election tickets. Political analysts have viewed this shift as a significant setback for the PPP ahead of the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, the region has witnessed a rise in violence linked to ongoing sit-ins and protests organized by the banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). On June 5, the AJK government officially declared JAAC a proscribed organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act, citing its involvement in terrorist activities. This ban was imposed just days before JAAC’s planned June 9 demonstration, which aimed to demand the removal of 12 seats reserved in the AJK assembly for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.
