MUZAFFARABAD: A personal security guard of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas was shot dead on Friday after his convoy came under fire while travelling through his native constituency via the Tain-Dhalkot area, according to officials and his aides.

Officials said that the convoy of Ilyas, who now heads the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party in the region, had travelled around one-and-a-half kilometres beyond the Tain-Dhalkot bridge over the Jhelum River, when unidentified assailants opened fire from the mountainside.

Muhammad Asif, one of Mr Ilyas’s security guards, was struck by a bullet in the head and died while being taken to a hospital in Rawalpindi.

Officials said Mr Ilyas remained unharmed, and in a video message, he alleged the attack had been carried out by armed members of the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a claim that could not be independently verified.

Cop loses his life after vehicle escorting incumbent PM Rathore plunges into ravine

There was no immediate response from the group to the allegation.

Tain-Dhalkot falls under LA-22 (Poonch-V), Ilyas’s native constituency. In the 2016 elections, the seat was won by his uncle, Sardar Saghir Chughtai, on a Muslim Conference ticket.

According to official sources, Mr Ilyas’s staff informed the Poonch administration on Thursday night that he intended to visit LA-22 to attend meetings and offer condolences to bereaved families.

The sources added that the administration advised him against the visit due to the prevailing law-and-order situation. He was instead advised to visit LA-15 (Bagh-II).

“On his insistence, officials informed him that if he was determined to undertake the visit, he would have to do so at his own risk,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

According to the same sources, Mr Ilyas’s staff subsequently informed the police control room that road closures were “our issue” and asked them only to convey to senior authorities that “Sardar Sahib will visit his constituency”.

In the video message, Mr Ilyas paid tribute to his guard, and said he had sacrificed his life while shielding him and claimed that some other members of the convoy had also sustained injuries He alleged that the same group, which had been protesting over shortages of flour and other essential commodities, was also blocking roads and holding the state’s machinery and ordinary citizens hostage.

The former premier said efforts to resolve the situation through dialogue had failed and urged the authorities to deal with responsible “with an iron hand”.

Calling the assailants “terrorists”, he demanded an operation against them, saying that, if required, the army should also play its role.

Sources close to Mr Ilyas said he had announced compensation and a residential plot for the family of the slain guard.

Attempts to contact Mr Ilyas’s spokesperson, Sardar Iftikhar Rasheed, were unsuccessful.

Rathore’s convoy meets accident

Separately, a constable lost his life and seven other policemen were injured on Friday when a pickup truck travelling in Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore’s convoy veered off the road at Chhanjal and plunged into a ravine in Haveli district, officials said.

Three civilians also sustained injuries after being struck by the vehicle as it tumbled into the ravine.

An official said the double-cabin pickup truck, carrying SHO Barkat Ali Rathore and other policemen, skidded off the road while negotiating a sharp bend before plunging into the ravine.

Constable Ansar Iqbal was killed on the spot, while seven policemen, including SHO Rathore, sustained injuries. The injured policemen and civilians were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2026