Muzaffarabad | Pakistan

MUZAFFARABAD: The PML-N and PPP have secured one seat each in the two constituencies of Muzaffarabad division where polling was held on Tuesday after being fully or partially deferred due to landslides and adverse weather that blocked roads and prevented the timely dispatch of polling staff and election material. The contest was part of the second phase of elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), during which candidates vied for seats in Muzaffarabad division and 12 seats reserved for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir. According to official results released by the AJK Election Commission, PML-N’s Noreen Arif bagged the LA-27 (Kutla) seat with 18,919 votes, beating first runner-up, Sardar Tabarak Ali of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) by 298 votes. PPP’s Sardar Javed Ayoub was the second runner-up, with 18,037 votes. Meanwhile, PPP’s Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi bagged 28,214 votes to win the LA-28 (Lachhrat) seat, where PML-N’s Chaudhry Shahzad Mahmood secured 26,866 votes to emerge as the first runner-up. T...

ISLAMABAD/ MUZAFFARABAD: The PPP and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) appeared set to win the two constituencies in Muzaffarabad division where polling had been postponed due to landslides and bad weather. Voting was held in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kotla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) after authorities delayed the exercise due to blocked roads. According to unofficial results, PPP’s Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi retained LA-28 (Lachhrat), defeating Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Chaudhry Shahzad Mehmood. Polling was held at 122 of the constituency’s 174 polling stations on Sunday. However, following allegations that PPP workers had taken away ballot boxes, the Election Commission ordered repolling at two of those stations, along with polling at the remaining 52 stations where voting could not be held earlier. Results from the remaining 120 polling stations had put Naqvi ahead of his rival by just five votes. Meanwhile, polling was held at all 197 polling station...

ISLAMABAD: The PPP renewed its allegations of rigging on Tuesday while polling was under way in two constituencies of Muzaffarabad, where it could not be held on the scheduled date of August 2 in the second phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections. Authorities had postponed polling in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) due to landslides and bad weather, which had resulted in blocked roads. Elections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns, with polling having been held on seven seats of Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats — reserved seats for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir — on Sunday. In the third phase, elections will be held in 11 constituencies of Poonch division on August 10. The first phase of polling was held in AJK’s Mirpur division on July 27, in which the PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats while the PPP won the remaining four. The two parties, which are allies in Centre, have been engaged in ...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Maryam Aurangzeb on Sunday expressed confidence that the party was heading towards another victory in Muzaffarabad following its success in Mirpur during the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections.

The second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections began on Sunday morning. Polling is being held in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies. Polling started at 8am and will continue without interruption till 5pm. Over 300 candidates are vying for nine Muzaffarabad seats and 12 seats for refugees settled in different regions. According to the AJK Election Commission, 207 candidates are in the fray for the nine constituencies in Muzaffarabad division, comprising five seats in Muzaffarabad district and two each in Neelum and Jhelum Valley districts. Another 137 candidates are contesting the 12 refugee constituencies, including six seats representing refugees from the Kashmir Valley and six from Jammu. A total of 809,621 voters are registered in Muzaffarabad division, while the 12 refugee constituencies have a combined electorate of 438,834. According to the commission, 1,483 polling stations have been established across Muzaffarabad division, of which 533 have ...

MUZAFFARABAD: Polling for the second phase of elections to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly will be held on Sunday in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 constituencies reserved for Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan, where more than 340 candidates are contesting 21 seats. According to the AJK Election Commission, 207 candidates are in the fray for the nine constituencies in Muzaffarabad division, comprising five seats in Muzaffarabad district and two each in Neelum and Jhelum Valley districts. Another 137 candidates are contesting the 12 refugee constituencies, including six seats representing refugees from the Kashmir Valley and six from Jammu. A total of 809,621 voters are registered in Muzaffarabad division, including 427,955 men and 381,666 women. The 12 refugee constituencies have a combined electorate of 438,834, comprising 247,776 male and 191,054 female voters. Internet services were suspended again on Friday, less than 45 hours after being restored, as par...

The PPP and the PML-N continued lambasting each other on Saturday, extending their rhetoric from the ongoing elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to the other party’s previous tenures in power. The PPP and the PML-N — coalition partners in the Centre — have been engaged in a war of words since the PML-N emerged as the winner in the elections in AJK’s Mirpur division. The PPP has accused the PML-N of rigging in Mirpur and demanded re-polling. The political temperatures remain heated as the second phase of AJK elections is set to be held tomorrow in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division. The third phase is scheduled for August 10 in all 12 refugee constituencies, and 11 constituencies of Poonch division. In the latest exchange, PML-N senior leader Rana Sanaullah remarked on President Asif Ali Zardari’s role as he responded to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s allegations of rigging in the 2024 general elections. “If you call the votes secured by the prime minister votes of Forms-47, then on what...

The Central Traders Association of Muzaffarabad has rejected a strike and shutter-down call for July 22, announcing that markets and businesses across the city will remain open as usual.

• Sets July 14 as deadline for ‘acceptance’ of its demands • Two die near Rawalakot as forces clear path for convoy carrying food items MUZAFFARABAD: The proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) announced on Thursday that it would resume its long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15, if its demands remained unmet. Addressing participants at the Eidgah sit-in, JAAC core member Umar Nazir Kashmiri said the alliance would stage a long march on Muzaffarabad on July 15 if its charter of demands was not implemented by July 14. He said the long march, which had been halted in Rawalakot on June 10, would resume under the already announced standard operating procedures. “Once again, the JAAC seeks implementation of its charter of demands by July 14. If there is no progress by the evening of July 14, we will make a new announcement on July 15. That day, there will neither be this charter of demands nor any demand for the implementation of any agreement. God willing, we will leave this place with a new announcement,” ...

ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday decided to extend the Murree Expressway by 70 kilometres to Muzaffarabad during a National Highway Authority (NHA) meeting chaired by Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan. Work on the road has been ongoing under Khan’s tenure, including when he visited the expressway last November to review beautification, rehabilitation and improvement works along the route. According to the communications ministry, Khan presided over the meeting to review the authority’s financial close and map out strategic infrastructure priorities for the current fiscal year. In a decision aimed at boosting regional connectivity, the minister announced a 70km extension of the Murree Expressway (N-75) to Muzaffarabad. The expansion will effectively connect Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to Pakistan’s main motorway and expressway network, providing residents with a modern, high-speed and safer travel facility. The minister said the extension marked the beginning of a modern era of safe transit for th...

MUZAFFARABAD: Traders and transporters in Muzaffarabad division announced on Saturday that markets and public transport would resume normal operations from Sunday after the administration assured them of security and uninterrupted fuel supplies, signalling the first major break in the shutdown observed during the ongoing agitation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). At a joint press conference at Central Press Club, representatives of traders’ bodies and the transporters’ union also distanced themselves from the recently proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). They alleged that the movement, which they had initially backed over public issues such as subsidised electricity and flour, had deviated from its original objectives after June 9 and was now pursuing a political and constitutional agenda beyond the mandate of traders and transporters. The regional administration and the JAAC have been at odds over the past month over various issues, most notably the committee’s demand to abolish the 12 seats in th...

No survivors were reported after an Mi-17 helicopter of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off “due to a technical fault”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Rescue and recovery teams immediately reached the crash site. “All personnel on board embraced martyrdom. There were no survivors,” the ISPR said in a statement. “A board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident,” the military’s media affairs wing said. Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, along with all ranks of the army, expressed “deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families”, the ISPR said. Smoke billows after a Pakistan Army Aviation Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on June 10, 2026. — Reuters The army’s aviation wing began operating Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopters in the late 1990s. Mi-17s are considere...

An Pakistan Army Aviation Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad on Wednesday during take-off due to a reported technical fault, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

MUZAFFARABAD: Shops and markets were largely shut and vehicular traffic remained minimal in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday as the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) observed a strike. Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days. During the day, Muzaffarabad’s streets were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads. Riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city. However, no demonstrations were witnessed in the capital. Meanwhile, reports from Mirpur said that hundreds of people had gathered in the town’s Quaid-i-Azam stadium. “Shops are closed here and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone. Witnesses in Kotli said that while the area observed a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike, hundreds of people led by JAAC core member Imtiaz Aslam were heading to...

MUZAFFARABAD - At least two people died and several others injured after protesters clashed with police in Muzaffarabad on Monday.

At least six members of a family were feared dead after a massive landslide buried their home in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Muzaffarabad district on Thursday, while torrential rains claimed the lives of two more women in Bagh and Sudhnoti districts, officials said. Monsoon rains, which fall across the region from June to September every year, continue to lash many parts of the country. Starting in late June, Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across the country in the past month by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. At least 313 people, including 142 children, have died and 740 others have been injured in flash floods and torrential rains that have battered several parts of Pakistan since late June, according to updated daily data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The incident occurred in Nariyah Behak, part of Sarli Sacha village northwest of Muzaffarabad, where a cloudburst sent a wall of wate...

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry announced on Tuesday the successful dismantling of a major network involved in the sexual exploitation of children, operating out of Muzaffarabad.