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ISLAMABAD: The government in Azad Kashmir has reached an agreement with a civil rights alliance to end days of unrest in the northern Pakistani region, a Pakistani federal minister announced on Saturday, following the killing of at least nine people in deadly clashes.

The clashes erupted after calls for an indefinite ‘lockdown’ by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) from Sept. 29, seeking removal of perks for government officials, ending 12 seats in the regional assembly reserved for Kashmiri migrants who came from the Indian-side of the territory, and royalty for hydel power projects.

The protests have turned violent as protesters and police came face to face and clashed at various locations, with authorities confirming killing of six civilians and three policemen this week. The crisis prompted Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to send a negotiations team to the territory to join the regional government in talks with the protesters.

“It was the wisdom of local and national leadership and the spirit of dialogue that enabled us to resolve this stand-off peacefully, without violence, without division, and with mutual respect,” Pakistani Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who was part of the negotiations, said on X.

Pakistani Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry shared a copy of the agreement on X, which included the formation of a judicial commission to probe violent incidents, reduction in the number of regional government ministers and secretaries, and setting up a committee on reserved seats for migrants.

“Persons killed in the incidents of 1st and 2nd October 2025 shall be compensated with monetary benefits equivalent to LEAs (law enforcement agencies),” it read. “Gunshot injuries will be compensated at the rate of Rs10 lac ($3,554) per injured person. A government job shall be granted to one of the family members of each dead person within 20 days.”

The picture shared on Oct. 4, 2025, shows government officials and representative o Joint Action Committee in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Ahsan Iqbal/X)

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety, but rule in part.

Azad Kashmir is the part administered by Pakistan. The negotiations between the government and AKJAAC followed shutter-down and wheel-jam strikes that disrupted public life in the territory.

In May 2024, a similar wave of protests paralyzed the region. After six days of strikes and violent clashes that left at least four dead, PM Sharif approved a grant of Rs 23 billion ($86 million) for subsidies on flour and electricity, and a judicial commission to review elite privileges.

Protest leaders suspended their campaign at that time but warned that failure to implement the package would fuel fresh unrest.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to set a refugee admissions cap at 7,500 people this fiscal year, a record low that prioritizes white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity, three people familiar with the matter said.
If finalized, the planned cap would be a steep drop from the 125,000 put in place last year under former President Joe Biden and reflect Trump’s restrictive view of immigration and humanitarian protection.
Trump, a Republican, slashed refugee levels during his 2017-2021 presidency as part of a broad crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration. After returning to office in January 2025, he froze refugee admissions, saying they could only resume if it was determined to be in the interest of the US
Weeks later, Trump issued an executive order prioritizing refugee entries from South Africa’s Dutch-descended Afrikaner minority, saying the white minority group suffered racial discrimination and violence in majority-Black South Africa. South Africa’s government has rejected those claims.
The first group of 59 South Africans arrived in May, reaching a total of 138 by early September, Reuters reported previously.
The White House, State Department and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the planned 7,500-person refugee ceiling in fiscal year 2026, which began on Wednesday. The New York Times first reported the plans.
John Slocum, executive director of Refugee Council USA, urged other elected officials to push Trump to bring in more refugees, saying in a statement that such a low limit would be “jeopardizing people’s lives, separating families, and undermining our national security and economic growth.”
Trump officials had previously discussed annual refugee admissions ranging from 40,000 to 60,000, Reuters reported in recent months.
At a side event at the United Nations General Assembly last week, top Trump administration officials urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections, a major shift that would seek to reshape the post-World War Two framework around humanitarian migration.