State Killings in Pakistan as Kashmir Protest Movement Grows

State Killings in Pakistan as Kashmir Protest Movement Grows As a reader-funded independent news outlet, we operate free from the influence of governments, advertisers, and corporate backers. This is essential to our mission: to report on what matters most, beholden only to the truth. In that spirit, we made a commitment to ensure that our journalism is free for everyone, not locked behind a paywall. But that means we rely on the voluntary support of our community of readers. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work today (givebutter.com › dsn substack).Subscribe now (dropsitenews.com › subscribe?) (substackcdn.com)Funeral prayers for JAAC leader Sardar Umar Nazir’s brother Usman Nazir, led by their brother Siddique Nazir. Photo from the Facebook page of Hamza Naseer.Early on the morning of July 9, 2026, men from a paramilitary force known as the Pakistan Rangers began raiding homes in the village of Gehl Topi, a few kilometers from the city of Rawalakot in Pakistan-administered Kashmir—known locally as Azad Kashmir.It was four weeks after protests over electoral reform erupted in Azad Kashmir, and a curfew was in place. The local mosque announced over its loudspeaker that the Rangers, who operate under military authority, had entered the village, and a crowd began gathering.The armed men opened fire on the crowd, according to one eyewitness and another person who has family members in the village. Hassan Zohaib, who was present at the scene, said his cousin, Muhammad Nasir Khan, 39, was killed. Khan, a night caretaker at a government-run school, who had walked downhill along the Link Road to see why people were gathering. When the Rangers opened fire, a bullet entered Khan’s side, tore through his rib cage, and exited his neck. “We rushed him to the Rural Health Center in Chitra Topi, but there were no doctors or paramedical staff, and the blood loss was too severe. He could not survive,” his cousin, Hassan Zohaib, told Drop Site News.Khan has four children; the eldest is ten. The same day, Zohaib’s family buried a second relative killed by military gunfire in the same village, a 22-year-old named Wajid Siddique. “I am not sure what kind of ammunition they are using, because he was shot in his lower abdomen, which was blown away, and he died instantly,” Zohaib said. “We could not even take him to the hospital.”Neither Siddique’s nor Khan’s death has been reported in the local press, which is subject to intense censorship and has not been allowed to report on the violent crackdown in Kashmir. For eight weeks now the demonstrations in Rawalakot—a city just 40 kilometers away from the disputed Line of Control with India that has become an epicenter of the movement—have been met with live-fire by Pakistani security forces, mass arrests, and a siege of the city.Local officials and hospitals have not shared an official tally of total civilians killed. On July 2, Amnesty International estimated (amnesty.org) at 40 killed before regional elections began on July 2. Locals who spoke to Drop Site said that number is a significant undercount.Despite the violent crackdown, civilians have continued to demonstrate against local authorities and the Pakistani military. In a video circulating on social media this week, a travel vlogger identified as Aqeel says to the camera, “The streets of Rawalakot are drenched in blood. They are shooting our brothers with the bullets they purchase with our taxpayer money,” as gunshots are audible in the background.Harris Qadeer, editor of the local newspaper Roznama Jeddojehad, told Drop Site that he has documented