ISLAMABAD: The first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections concluded peacefully on Monday, with vote counting now underway.
Earlier, polling was extended by one hour in Mirpur Division due to an exceptionally high voter turnout.
Polling began at 8:00 a.m. and continued largely without interruption under stringent security arrangements.
More than 1.4 million registered voters were eligible to elect representatives to 13 Legislative Assembly seats in the first phase of the elections. As per the Azad Kashmir Information Ministry, the registered electorate in Mirpur Division comprises 724,811 men and 675,626 women.
Polling for the first phase of the general elections of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was held in 13 constituencies of Mirpur Division today.#News #Kashmir #RadioPakistan https://t.co/VA8HYo6AeY
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) July 27, 2026
Election authorities have established 2,316 polling stations across the division. Of these, 1,241 have been designated as highly sensitive, 724 as sensitive and 351 as normal, with security deployed according to the risk assessment.
A total of 296 candidates, including those representing the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), other political parties and independent candidates, contested the polls.
Also Read: Polling Begins in First Phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections
The AJK legislative assembly elections are being held in 45 constituencies, including 33 territorial seats and 12 reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan’s Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
To ensure peaceful and transparent elections, authorities deployed more than 19,000 security personnel, including Pakistan Army troops and police officers, with additional forces stationed at sensitive polling stations.
Chief Secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Khushal Khan and Secretary of the AJK Election Commission Raja Muhammad Shakeel, at a joint press conference in Muzaffarabad on Sunday, said elections in the region will be conducted in three phases.
They also appealed to the public to disregard misleading propaganda circulating on social media and rely only on official sources for election-related information.
Indian supported joint action committee activist caught red-handed
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said investigations by the country’s security agencies had uncovered an India-linked digital propaganda network involving an arrested digital marketing service provider connected to the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The minister said investigators had gathered evidence showing that social media campaigns promoting anti-Pakistan content and activities related to the banned group were financed from India.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Tarar said the investigation had exposed a coordinated digital disinformation operation aimed at spreading anti-state narratives, targeting Pakistan’s sovereignty, state institutions, the armed forces and the Chief of Army Staff through organised social media campaigns.
Referring to previous protests in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Tarar said the banned committee was involved in encouraging violence, blocking roads and creating law and order problems.
He said that demonstrations organised by the banned group had resulted in the deaths of Kashmiri police personnel and disrupted public order.
The minister said authorities now possessed “irrefutable evidence” linking the banned action committee to India.
“There should no longer be any doubt that its links lead to India, and we now have undeniable evidence,” he said.
