Pakistan shuts seminaries for 10 days fearing Indian military strikes in Azad Kashmir

The government of Azad Kashmir has closed all religious seminaries in the region for 10 days, officials said on Thursday, citing fears they would be targeted by Indian strikes following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir.

Islamabad says it has credible intelligence that India intends to launch military action soon, with New Delhi alleging that the attack on tourists was carried out by Pakistani nationals with ties to Islamist organisations based there.

The director of Pakistani Kashmir's Department of Religious Affairs, Hafiz Nazir Ahmad, told Reuters that security officials feared Indian forces may target seminaries and label them as militant training centres.

The notification seen by Reuters, dated April 30, only cited a heatwave as the reason for the closure.

"Right now, we are facing two kinds of heat - one from the weather and the other from (Indian Prime Minister) Modi," Ahmad said of the notification, saying they did not mention the risk of attacks in a bid to avoid panic.

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. India has previously targeted sites in Pakistan alleging they were bases of militants close to the Kashmir border.

"We held a meeting yesterday in which it was unanimously decided not to put innocent children at risk," Ahmad said. The President's Office of Pakistani Kashmir also said the closure was due to "precautionary reasons."

There are 445 registered seminaries with over 26,000 students enrolled in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to the religious affairs department.

The seminaries — locally known as madrasas — are Islamic educational institutions run by religious organisations, providing cheap, often free, alternatives to regular schools.

Pakistan has said it will respond "assuredly and decisively" to any military action from India, raising the spectre of war between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Reuters