Pakistani security forces launched an operation on November 5, 2026, in Rawalakot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to clear protest sites held by the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
Reports indicate at least seven civilians were killed and 23 injured during the action involving Rangers, Frontier Corps personnel, and local police.
Some accounts put the death toll higher, possibly around 12 including children. The overall toll linked to the unrest since June is reported to exceed 150 in some tallies.
The JAAC, banned by Pakistani authorities under anti-terrorism laws, has been leading protests since June. Demands center on a 38-point charter that includes cheaper electricity, subsidized wheat, better healthcare and education, jobs, greater political autonomy, and opposition to reserved Assembly seats for Kashmiri refugees settled elsewhere in Pakistan.
Protesters accuse Islamabad of discrimination, resource exploitation, and political interference in the region, which Pakistan has controlled since 1947.
Allegations of armed drone strikes on residential areas and protest sites near the Matialmera Bus Terminal and Umar Farooq Chowk have circulated widely.
JAAC leader Sardar Umar Nazir displayed what he described as bomb fragments recovered after strikes and said drones attacked camps from multiple directions.
Videos shared on social media show a burning house near the bus terminal; one resident’s home (linked to Waseem/Shakeel) was reportedly destroyed. Additional claims of rocket or RPG use and intercepted communications ordering strikes on houses have not been independently verified.
Pakistani authorities have not confirmed the civilian toll or drone use; some reports note police statements about facing resistance.
The violence triggered sharp criticism on social media.
Islamabad-based Seema Bali, identifying as Kashmiri and previously supportive of Pakistan, wrote that the country’s security forces were “behaving like the IDF” after years of issues in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Abu Dhabi-based activist Sohaib Khan (linked to the banned JKLF) compared burning houses in Rawalakot to scenes from Gaza, stating that “occupier forces are occupied and brutal” whether in Palestine or PoK.
Videos of protests, funerals, and demonstrators displaying bodies have fueled the backlash, with some protesters shouting for accountability over the “oppression.”
Independent confirmation of the exact casualty figures, drone deployment, and specific weapons remains limited, with conflicting local and media reports. The incident has intensified months of unrest in PoK, where authorities have previously used force, arrests, and communication restrictions against the JAAC movement.