Sawt Falasteen - Government, protesters reach deal to end unrest in Pakistan's Kashmir

A telecommunications blackout imposed by the government was gradually lifted throughout the day, an AFP journalist witnessed.

The clashes left at least six civilians and three police officers dead.

"The government has agreed to our demands, and we are thankful to it," said Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a member of the Awami Action Committee (AAC), the civil rights group that led the protest.

He confirmed the demonstration had been called off.

The agreement, signed by federal ministers and shared with the media, includes pledges to reduce the size of the cabinet and senior officials in the civil service.

The government also agreed to investigate the violence and vandalism during the protests, including deaths on both sides.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, from Monday, demanding structural reforms as well as political and economic rights.

"The politicians here behave like gangsters ruling over our heads; we want them gone and their privileges removed," Asad Tabbasum, a 51-year-old protester, told AFP on Wednesday.

AFP reporters the same day saw streets stained with blood and littered with spent bullet casings, shards of glass and scattered stones, apparent evidence of the chaos.

According to an official statement by the Azad Kashmir government on Wednesday, six civilians and three policemen were killed.

More than 170 police personnel and 50 civilians were injured, it said.

Protest organisers say more than 100 civilians were wounded.

"Public interest and peace are our priorities, and we will continue to serve Azad Kashmir," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but has been divided between them since their independence from British rule.

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan fought for four days in May, their worst clash in decades.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST