A Rangers personnel lost his life and another was injured when armed men opened fire on security forces during a road clearance operation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The incident occurred while teams worked to remove blockades and restore transport routes between Sarsawa and Tararkhel.
According to the AJK police spokesperson, Rangers personnel came under sudden gunfire while carrying out the operation. Shahnawaz, who belonged to Khairpur in Sindh, was martyred after receiving a bullet wound to the chest. Lance Naik Bilal sustained a shoulder injury in the same attack and is receiving treatment.
Authorities confirmed that clearance teams are still working across multiple locations to clear obstacles and reopen key roads. Despite the violence, the operation continues without pause. The spokesperson stated that efforts will not stop until every blockade is removed and transportation routes are fully functional again.
This is not the first such incident. Last month, armed members of the banned Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) attacked security forces near the Matial Maira bus terminal in Rawalakot. In that earlier attack, one Rangers personnel was martyred and another was injured while responding to reports of indiscriminate firing.
The AJK government declared JAAC a proscribed organisation on June 5 under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Officials said the group had engaged in terrorism. The ban came just days before the outfit planned a protest demanding 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.
Police have made it clear that the current clearance drive will continue until normal traffic movement is restored across the affected areas. Security forces remain on high alert as they work to keep the roads open and ensure public safety.
The martyrdom of Shahnawaz has once again highlighted the risks faced by personnel serving in difficult conditions. Families of the martyred and injured have been informed, and authorities have assured full support. The operation to clear remaining blockades is ongoing, with teams determined to restore peaceful movement of people and goods as quickly as possible
