Pakistan-administered Kashmir (Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is not a name familiar to many Americans, but it is where an incident recently occurred that prompted the British government to speak out: a British citizen died from a stray bullet when security forces opened fire on a protest march. So what is happening there, and why does it concern British citizens?
Mohammad Akhtar, 50, who lived in Peterborough, England, died on 9 June 2026 in the city of Kotli. According to his cousin, he was struck by a stray bullet when security forces opened fire, and was not participating in the protest at the time. His family later decided not to pursue the matter with British authorities, unable to file a complaint with police in Kashmir and fearing retaliation.
At the same time, another British citizen, Waqas Arif, 38, from Nottingham, was arrested in Mirpur and held in a regional prison for more than two months without being charged or brought to court. His family said his brothers were taken by Pakistani forces and Rangers after participating in a protest, while he himself was not.
The family did not dare file a complaint out of fear of retaliation — a detail that says much about the region.
Why now?
Tensions stem from a group called the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which has led protests demanding economic reform and elections. Regional authorities banned JAAC under counter-terrorism legislation, while Amnesty International documented violence in the protests that caused at least 34 civilian deaths and 6 security personnel deaths. One of the immediate triggers was a dispute over 12 seats in the regional legislative body reserved for Kashmiri refugees originally from Indian-administered territory, which JAAC argued gave disproportionate political influence to people living outside the region.
Violence escalated as the region prepared for local elections. The latest round of voting took place on 10 August 2026, despite JAAC calls for a boycott. The Pakistan Muslim League-N won 24 of 34 seats in the first two rounds and will form a regional government for the first time in a decade.
Who is affected, and what has the British government done?
The two British citizens are the most specific documented cases, but local residents are affected far more severely. The Foreign Office said it is deeply concerned about the situation, and Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty met with the all-party parliamentary group on Kashmir on 5 August 2026. Britain also updated travel advice on 7 August 2026, continuing to advise citizens to avoid the region unless absolutely necessary.
HISTORY: From flour price protests to the ban on the organization
JAAC did not emerge suddenly. The group was formed in 2023 from protests by small traders opposing government subsidy cuts on flour. By late September 2025, JAAC organized a region-wide strike in support of a 38-point charter on economic and political demands. In early October 2025, the federal and regional governments signed a three-way agreement promising to address all demands in the charter within six months in exchange for JAAC halting protests. The agreement did not last long: by 5 June 2026, regional authorities formally banned JAAC, accusing the group of plotting to disrupt the upcoming elections.
PRECEDENT: Does this kind of violence happen often?
This is not the first time violence has erupted in the region since the JAAC ban was imposed in early June 2026. Clashes between protesters and police and paramilitary forces have continued for weeks, leaving more than 30 people dead, including some security personnel. On 14 July alone, at least 9 people died, with approximately six protesters shot when they tried to block a security convoy at Tararkhal in Sudhnoti district. JAAC has also led major protests in the two years prior over rising electricity and flour prices, showing that this kind of conflict is not unusual in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — but the scale of casualties in 2026, combined with a foreign citizen's death, has attracted more international attention than is typically the case.
Who are the two British citizens involved in this incident?
Mohammad Akhtar, 50, who lived in Peterborough, was killed by a stray bullet when security forces opened fire on protesters in Kotli. Waqas Arif, 38, from Nottingham, was arrested in Mirpur and detained for more than two months without being charged. Both families said they did not participate in the protests.
Why were there protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir?
The protests originated with the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), initially formed in response to the government's removal of flour subsidies in 2023, then expanded into broader demands for economic and political reform, including abolishing 12 parliamentary seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees. The situation escalated when authorities outlawed JAAC just before a regional election.
Does violence like this happen often in the region?
It has happened before, but not usually at this scale. Similar clashes occurred in the preceding two years over electricity and flour prices, and a June 2026 clash killed at least 11 people. The death of a foreign citizen has drawn significantly more international attention than previous incidents.
Is the Pakistani government suppressing protests purely for political reasons?
Regional authorities say outlawing JAAC was necessary to prevent the group from sabotaging the election, while Amnesty International calls it a dangerous escalation in restricting political dissent. The two sides offer different interpretations of the same events, and no independent assessment has definitively established who is right regarding the use of force.
How has the British government responded?
The British Foreign Office says it is deeply concerned about the situation, has updated travel advisories urging citizens to avoid the region unless necessary, and British officials have engaged with Pakistan as well as the prison holding Arif. However, Akhtar's family decided not to formally pursue a complaint with British authorities.
Bảo Nguyễn
Bảo Nguyễn founded Saigon Sentinel to give the Vietnamese diaspora truly independent, in-depth community coverage at a time when misinformation moves faster than fact-checks and the language barrier makes verification harder than it should be. He sets the editorial standards and quality controls that govern the reporting, chooses the subjects, writes and edits each article, reads it against its sources before publication, audits published output, and handles corrections.