Protesters in Pakistan-held Kashmir mark 5th anniversary of India stripping region of semi-autonomy

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of angry people took to the streets in Pakistan-administered Kashmir Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy and take direct control of it.

The decision— which Islamabad insists was unilateral and violated United Nations resolutions — has tested the already strained ties between the two countries.

Protesters in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-held Kashmir which is split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety, burned an effigy of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian national flags, vowing to fight New Delhi's decree until its dissolution.

Another protest of about 200 people was led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar in the capital.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed lawmakers in Muzaffarabad, via a video feed, saying he hoped Kashmiri people would soon get the right to self-determination to decide their future and expressed his optimism that “that day will soon come.”.

Earlier, in a statement, he called to resolve the tense territorial dispute over Kashmir through the diplomatic channels of the U.N., saying Pakistan will continue to “extend its strong moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.”

In 2019, India’s Hindu nationalist-led government revoked the special status of Muslim-majority Kashmir after cutting off communications and deploying thousands of troops in the restive Himalayan region amid uproar from Pakistani lawmakers.

In December, India’s top court upheld the decision by Modi’s government.

The future of Muslim-majority Kashmir was left unresolved at the end of British colonial rule in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan. Pakistan has long pushed for the right to self-determination under a U.N. resolution passed in 1948, which called for a referendum on whether Kashmiris wanted to merge with Pakistan or India.

The rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.

Supporters Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir burn portraits of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other officials during a protest to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Supporters of Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir pour fuel to burn the portraits of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other officials during a protest to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Supporters Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir, chant slogans during a protest to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Supporters Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir, chant slogans during a protest to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Supporters Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir, chant slogans during a protest to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

In this photo released by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, Pakistani officials take part in a rally to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Pakistan Foreign Ministry via AP)

In this handout photo released by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, Pakistani officials take part in a rally to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to strip the disputed region of its semi-autonomy, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Pakistan Foreign Ministry via AP)

In this handout photo released by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, center, addresses a crowd of people to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people on the eve of the fifth anniversary of India's decision to revoke the disputed region's semi-autonomy, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Pakistan Foreign Ministry via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — An extendable robot began on Tuesday a two-week mission to retrieve the first sample of melted fuel debris from inside one of three damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Highly radioactive fuel and other materials in the reactors melted when a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged the plant's cooling systems.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, has previously used small robots to examine the inside of the reactors, but this is the first time for it to collect a sample of the melted debris in what will mark the start of the most challenging part of the plant's decadeslong decommissioning.

The mission was initially scheduled to begin on Aug. 22 but was suspended when workers noticed that five 1.5-meter (5-foot) pipes to be used to push the robot into the reactor had been arranged in the wrong order, TEPCO said.

The equipment was reassembled in the right order for Tuesday's attempt, the company said.

Once inside the reactor vessel, the robot is operated remotely from a safer location.

The robot, nicknamed “telesco," can extend up to about 22 meters (72 feet), including the pipes pushing it from behind, to reach the melted fuel mound, where it will use tongs to collect a fragment measuring less than 3 grams (0.1 ounce). It is expected to take about two weeks to obtain the fragment.

An estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive molten fuel remains in the three reactors.

Chief government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi noted that the mission marked the start of the most difficult phase of the Fukushima Daiichi cleanup. “The government will firmly and responsibly tackle the decommissioning until the very end,” he said.

The government and TEPCO have set a 30- to 40-year target for the cleanup, despite criticism it is unrealistic. No specific plans for the full removal of the melted fuel debris or its storage have been decided.

In this photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), monitoring workers rearrange the push-in pipes into the right order, at Fukjushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings via AP)

In this photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), TEPCO executives observe plant officials making final procedural checks from an operation room to monitor and remote control an extendable robot, at Fukjushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings via AP)

This photo shows the Unit 2 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

This photo shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, on Aug. 22, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, also known as TEPCO, the operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, reveals a robot to be used to retrieve debris at the power plant in Kobe, western Japan, May 28, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP, File)