Pakistan Kashmir Clashes Kill Officer, Official Says

A security force member was killed and three others were wounded in clashes with protesters during voting in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Rawalakot's top civilian official Sardar Waheed said on Tuesday.

Waheed said the unrest began on Monday, the day voting started in parts of the disputed Himalayan region, and that clashes had continued near Rawalakot. He said protesters had surrounded the outskirts of the city while security personnel were holding them back from entering the centre.

A spokesperson for the protest movement Joint Awami Action Committee said about 20 of its supporters had been killed. Waheed said authorities could not verify that figure, saying different groups were claiming 18 to 20 deaths and that civilian casualties were not being brought directly to government hospitals.

Around 3.8 million residents in the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir were eligible to vote in a local legislature election seen as a test of security after weeks of violent standoffs between police and protesters.

The electoral commission announced less than a week before polls opened that voting would be split into three phases for the first time because of concerns that security personnel were overstretched. The vote is set to end in Poonch district, which includes Rawalakot, on August 10.

The Joint Awami Action Committee has demanded the abolition of 12 local legislature seats reserved for people who left what is now India-administered Kashmir. Its supporters have called for a boycott, saying the seats are used by major Pakistani political parties to influence the local parliament with representatives who mostly live outside the region.

The local government banned the committee under anti-terrorism laws in June, sparking demonstrations and clashes that killed dozens of people and led to hundreds of arrests. Digital monitor NetBlocks and residents have reported widespread internet restrictions that politicians said hampered campaigning.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, but has been divided between the two countries since their independence from British rule in 1947.