Internet Blackout in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir Surpasses 100 Days as PoK Unrest Persists

The partial internet and mobile-data blackout across Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PoK/AJK), in place since authorities banned the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) under anti-terrorism laws and cut broadband and mobile data on June 5, 2026, has now run past 100 days, according to NetBlocks, the independent connectivity monitor, and reporting through September 21. Al Jazeera and Siasat both marked the shutdown crossing the 100-day threshold around September 15, and a further report published September 21 said the blackout remains ongoing, still disrupting online banking, business activity and the academic calendar (entrance exams have been postponed) despite the formation of a new AJK government under PM Iftikhar Gilani following staggered elections that concluded August 10. Independent verification of the situation on the ground remains hampered by the connectivity gap itself; local and rights-group estimates of the death toll from the June-August unrest and crackdown range from just over 50 (per local estimates cited by Al Jazeera, unverified) up to the 89 civilian deaths verified by the Jammu Kashmir Human Rights Observatory (JKHRO) as of early August, a figure not updated in the sources reviewed since. No new mass-casualty clashes were reported in the September 15-21 window; the story is the persistence of the blackout itself.