Journalists Razi Tahir and Muhammad Saif were reported missing from Islamabad on August 1 after covering unrest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Their disappearance followed disputed election violence and a communications shutdown that had prevented mobile internet access across the region since June 5.

JournalismPakistan reported that men wearing police uniforms took Tahir and Saif from an office, while Pakistani authorities had not disclosed their whereabouts or acknowledged holding them. The news outlet said it had not independently verified the reported disappearance.

Election violence produced conflicting casualty figures

Violence was reported in Rawalakot and Kotli on July 27, the first day of voting in the regional election. Amnesty International said the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) claimed that security forces killed 19 people and injured dozens, while news organizations reported casualties without confirming a toll and police said two officers were injured.

Amnesty called for a prompt, independent and transparent investigation into the reported use of lethal force. It said the communications blackout and limits on access for reporters and independent observers made it harder to establish what happened.

The organization also cited media reports that at least 40 people had died before the election, including 34 protesters and six police or paramilitary personnel. Those figures were not an official finding, and APPI News could not independently reconcile them with the JAAC claim about deaths on election day.

A smartphone screen shows that no mobile signal is available (illustrative image)
Mobile internet and broadband services in Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been suspended since June 5. (Illustrative image)

Internet shutdown began weeks before the election

Mobile internet services had been suspended since June 5, according to Amnesty. On the same day, authorities designated JAAC, a coalition that had organized protests over regional political and economic issues, as a prohibited organization under Pakistan-administered Kashmir's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2014.

Al Jazeera reported on July 24 that the shutdown affected mobile data and broadband, disrupted bank and cash-machine access, and forced some businesses to travel for hours to find a signal. The report said roadblocks and communications failures also interrupted supplies, education and travel.

Regional officials told Al Jazeera that limited internet access remained available at some banks and that road closures affected only parts of the territory. That account differed from residents' descriptions of widespread disruption, adding to the difficulty of assessing the shutdown's reach.

Journalists face detention and uncertain legal status

Tahir and Saif are independent journalists who publish current-affairs reporting online. JournalismPakistan said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had asked Pakistani authorities to disclose their whereabouts, recognize any detention, provide due process and release them. It also reported that Kashmiri journalist Raja Ikram, who was reportedly detained on August 1, had been released.

The reported disappearance followed an earlier case involving Times of Kashmir journalist Syed Farhad Ali Shah. CPJ said police detained Ali Shah in Bagh district on June 20 after he covered JAAC protests in Rawalakot, and a family member said no police case had been filed and he had not appeared in court by July 8.

CPJ said the regional police headquarters did not respond to its request for comment on Ali Shah's detention. The organization described the case as preventive detention without charge and called for his unconditional release.

Al Jazeera access failure has no official explanation

Media access came under further pressure after Al Jazeera reported on the election and unrest. JournalismPakistan said it could not reach Al Jazeera's English-language website through several internet connections in Pakistan on August 3.

The access failure followed criticism from Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which accused Al Jazeera of selective reporting on the election. Neither the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority nor Al Jazeera had confirmed a block or explained the disruption, JournalismPakistan reported.

The unresolved disappearances, disputed casualty counts and inability to determine whether a website restriction was ordered all share the same constraint: independent scrutiny remained limited. Restoring communications and allowing reporters into the affected areas would make competing claims easier to test, but the available sources did not show that those conditions had been met.