Rangers official martyred, another injured in attack near Rawalakot bus terminal

RAWALAKOT: A Rangers official was martyred and another was injured when armed members of the banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) attacked security personnel responding to reports of firing near the Matial Maira bus terminal in Rawalakot on Tuesday, according to security sources.

Security sources said armed groups linked to the proscribed JAAC opened indiscriminate fire in a civilian area near the bus terminal early in the morning. They said police, along with security personnel, moved to the area to restore order after the firing was reported.

According to the sources, the responding personnel came under attack from armed assailants. Rangers troops deployed in support of the police also reached the site, where one Rangers official was killed and another sustained injuries during the exchange of fire.

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Police said the outlawed organisation, after failing to gather public support in recent weeks, resorted to firing and sought to place responsibility on security forces. Police said the incident was recorded through aerial surveillance.

AJK Police also said explosives were used during the violence. It added that an operation was under way to clear the area of armed JAAC members and protesters, while alleging that local residents had been held hostage at gunpoint.

Police described the incident as further evidence of what it called the banned group's violent conduct, saying its armed members adopted anarchic tactics during the attack.

The AJK government had declared JAAC a proscribed organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act on June 5, saying the group was involved in terrorism. The ban was imposed days before the outfit's planned June 9 protest, which sought the abolition of 12 seats in the AJK assembly reserved for refugees from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan after 1947.