Guard killed in firing on Tanveer Ilyas convoy in Poonch

MUZAFFARABAD: A member of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas’s security team was killed on Friday after gunmen fired on his convoy in the Tain-Dhalkot area of Poonch district, according to officials and his aides.

Officials said the convoy had crossed the Tain-Dhalkot bridge over the Jhelum River and moved about one-and-a-half kilometres ahead when unidentified attackers opened fire from the mountainside at around 1:30pm. Muhammad Asif, a retired commando from Sudhnoti district who was serving as one of Ilyas’s guards, suffered a head wound after reportedly moving to protect the former premier. He was taken toward a hospital in Rawalpindi but died on the way, officials said. Ilyas was not injured in the attack.

Visit took place despite official advice

Tain-Dhalkot falls in LA-22 (Poonch-V), Ilyas’s home constituency. According to official sources, his staff informed the Poonch administration on Thursday night that he planned to travel there for meetings and to offer condolences to bereaved families. The same sources said the administration advised him not to make the trip because of the prevailing law-and-order situation and suggested that he instead visit LA-15 (Bagh-II).

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities told Ilyas that if he still chose to proceed, the visit would be at his own risk. According to the same sources, his staff later told the police control room that road closures were our issue and asked police only to pass on the message to senior authorities that Sardar Sahib will visit his constituency.

Ilyas levels accusations in video message

In a video statement released later in the day, Ilyas paid tribute to the slain guard and said he had laid down his life while protecting him. He also claimed that other people travelling in the convoy were hurt. Ilyas alleged that armed members of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) were behind the attack, but that assertion could not be independently verified. There was no immediate response from the group to his allegation.

Ilyas further accused the same group, which he said had been protesting over shortages of flour and other essential items, of blocking roads and disrupting both state functioning and public movement. He said attempts to settle the issue through dialogue had not succeeded and called on the authorities to act against those responsible.

Urging firm action, he demanded that those he described as terrorists be dealt with with an iron hand and said the army should also step in if needed. He also warned that "stones will be answered with stones and bricks with bricks" and alleged that those involved were advancing RAW’s agenda in the state, referring to India’s intelligence agency.

Constituency and election background

LA-22 was won in the 2016 election by Ilyas’s uncle, Sardar Saghir Chughtai, on a Muslim Conference ticket. Chughtai later joined the PTI, but died in a road accident days before the 2021 elections. After his death, his widow Shahida Saghir contested the seat and won. She seldom attended proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, while her son Ahmed Saghir was later made an adviser to the AJK government with the status of minister.

Last year, Ahmed Saghir joined the Pakistan Peoples Party along with Ilyas. However, Ilyas recently left the party after he was denied tickets from LA-22 (Poonch-V), LA-15 (Bagh-II) and LA-25 (Neelum-I). He is now contesting the regional elections from all three constituencies on the ticket of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party, which he currently heads in AJK, and is up against Ahmed Saghir in LA-22.

Sources close to Ilyas said he had announced compensation for the family of the slain guard and would also provide them with a residential plot. Attempts to contact Ilyas’s spokesperson, Sardar Iftikhar Rasheed, were unsuccessful.