Thousands march in Pakistan-administered Kashmir as clashes kill at least 15

BBC Pakistan correspondent Caroline Davies reported that a peaceful Tuesday-morning march in Muzaffarabad against a 47% rise in electricity tariffs turned violent after a police intervention in the afternoon. Provincial Government spokesperson Mazhar Saeed Shah issued a Tuesday-evening toll of 15 civilians and four police officers killed and 86 wounded. The head of the Muzaffarabad Cinnah Hospital emergency department, Dr Khalid Hassan, said the majority of the wounded had gunshot injuries.

The Awami Action Committee, which organised the protests, said the trigger was the government's withdrawal of subsidies on electricity, flour and LPG. Committee spokesperson Shaukat Nawaz Mir said the initial demand was simply the reinstatement of the subsidies and the renewal of the mandate of the Jammu and Kashmir Consumer Council. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a midnight Twitter statement that a Frontier Constabulary reinforcement unit of 1,200 had been deployed from Islamabad.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, taking journalists' questions in Lahore on Thursday, said an investigation would be opened into the disproportionate use of force by security forces. Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a brief statement that India was deeply concerned by the civilian deaths in the Pakistan-administered area. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an investigation.