Pakistan-occupied Kashmir closes madrasas fearing Indian military strikes

The government of Pakistan-occupied 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 Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26.

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

The director of POK's Department of Religious Affairs, Hafiz Nazir Ahmad, told Reuters that security officials feared Indian forces may target seminaries.


The President's Office of POK also said the closure was due to "precautionary reasons."

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

The seminaries - locally known as madrasas - are Islamic educational institutions run by religious organisations in Pakistan.

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.

(With Reuters inputs)