What happened
Law enforcement agencies cleared the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalakot in a coordinated operation carried out over the nights of 7 and 8 June 2026, police said on Monday, ending a siege of the hospital that had become a flashpoint of days of unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
A police spokesperson said the hospital had been fully cleared and the siege completely removed, and that medical services had been restored. Authorities said the safety of civilians, patients, medical staff and government property had been the top priority during the operation.
Police said four members of the security forces had been martyred in firing by what they described as violent elements since 6 June — three personnel of the AJK Police and one official of the Frontier Constabulary — and that several others had been injured. They said three members of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) had been killed as a result of what police called their own indiscriminate firing, and that several others were wounded. Some of those deaths occurred during the night between 5 and 6 June, according to the police account.
With the operation over, police said the miscreants had been dispersed and law and order restored in Rawalakot. Most highways were reopened to traffic and markets and commercial centres resumed normal activity, they said, while legal action against armed JAAC members was under way. Officials vowed to bring those responsible for the unrest to justice.
Why it matters
The clearing of CMH Rawalakot ended the most visible confrontation of a crisis that had been building for days. The AJK government had proscribed JAAC on 5 June 2026 under its anti-terrorism law, saying the group was engaged in terrorism and had acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the state, and launched a crackdown in which scores of its leaders and activists were arrested. The group had planned a region-wide strike for 9 June.
The flow of information from AJK remained limited because mobile data services were closed, and authorities advised visitors to postpone their trips until 20 June. Federal paramilitary forces were dispatched to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police. The unrest followed the death of a trader who was allegedly shot during a confrontation with law enforcers on the night of 5 June.
The episode showed how quickly a local dispute in AJK could draw in the region’s police, paramilitary reinforcements and hospital services, and how movement and communications restrictions compounded the disruption for residents.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 2026-06-08.
- ARY News — "Death toll rises to seven in AJK unrest; police clear CMH of miscreants"8 June 2026 · Police account of the operation to clear CMH Rawalakot, the four security personnel martyred, the three JAAC members killed and the restoration of order.
- Dawn — "Pakistan rejects 'unwarranted' remarks on AJK by individuals in UK"8 June 2026 · Background on the JAAC proscription and crackdown, the closure of mobile data services, the travel advisory and the deployment of federal paramilitary forces.
