Azad Kashmir: Muzaffarabad

The town of Muzaffarabad is the capital of Azad Kashmir, nestled in a scenic valley where the Neelum and Jhelum rivers converge. It’s a hectic city with roughly 200K in population, mostly local Kashmiri people. Quite busy and lots of traffic, but still some spectacular scenery as both rivers cut deep gorges and many houses cling to the valley walls. It was a significant town in pre-partition Kashmir until 1947, when tribal militias and local rebels established Pakistani control during the First Indo-Pak War. it became Azad Kashmir’s capital after the war. In 2005, a massive earthquake (7.6 magnitude) killed more then 30,000 in the city and region, so a lot of what you see today is new.