Internet services remained suspended across Azad Jammu and Kashmir for the eighth consecutive day, severely disrupting the lives of students, freelancers, and ordinary citizens.
Residents reported being forced to travel outside AJK to access basic online services, with many crossing into neighbouring KP to perform urgent digital tasks they could not complete at home.
Ryan Khan, a student from Muzaffarabad, said he had travelled to Garhi Habibullah in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday just to submit documents online at a facility there.
He reported seeing dozens of other AJK residents at the same location, all having made the journey specifically to access internet services unavailable back in their own towns.
Khan urged authorities to restore internet access immediately, saying that the prolonged shutdown was threatening the academic future of students across the entire region.
Mobile phone services in Rawalakot were also cut after 8:30pm on Saturday, further restricting the flow of information from the area during an already sensitive security situation.
The internet blackout coincided with a partial shutter-down strike and continued sit-ins by supporters of the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee across Azad Kashmir for a 4th consecutive day.
