By 27-01-2025
Hailey Archer
Pakistan researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) speaker Chaudry Latif Akbar was targeted in a gun attack while visiting Kakliyot village, south of Muzaffarabad (Imran, 2025). AJK Assembly Speaker Akbar attended a ceremony marking the announcement of Muslim Conference activists joining the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) (Naqash, 2025). It was on his way to this political gathering that the attack happened (The Tribune, 2025). There were three PPP supporters, who were traveling with the convoy, that were injured in this attack (Imran, 2025). While regaining control of the situation, the police, as well as members of the Muslim conference, were receiving gunfire from the attackers (The Tribune, 2025).
Prior to the attack, multiple threats against him had been reported to the police (The Tribune, 2025). The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asi Ali Zardari denounced the gun attack, and also stated that serious action needed to be taken against the ones that carried out this attack (Imran, 2025). AJK is a self-governing territory under Pakistani control, with a Muslim majority (Imran, 2025). This region has also been a point of contention between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed countries (Imran, 2025).
Sources and further readings:
Imran, K. (2025, January 27). Pakistan PM, president condemn gun attack on speaker Azad Kashmir’s convoy. Arab News PK. Accessed 27 January 2025. https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2587950/pakistan
Naqash, T. (2025, January 27). Three PPP workers hurt in attack on AJK speaker’s convoy. DAWN. Accessed 27 January 2025. https://www.dawn.com/news/1887921/three-ppp-workers-hurt-in-attack-on-ajk-speakers-convo
Two injured in attack on AJK speaker Latif Akbar’s convoy. (2025, January 26). The Tribune. Accessed 27 January 2025. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2524666/two-injured-in-attack-on-ajk-speaker-latif-akbars-convoy
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