In Muzaffarabad, formal negotiations between a government-appointed negotiation team and the Jammu Kashmir Awami Action Committee (JKAAC) have resumed.
Shortly after Friday prayers, representatives of the public action committee and a group sent on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s orders began their second round of talks.
Protests organized by the action committee in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have descended into violence, leaving at least nine people dead—three of them police officers—and more than 100 injured.
In the midst of sporadic clashes between activists and law enforcement in the state capital, Muzaffarabad, the area is experiencing a massive closure and a wheeljam strike.