ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities on Friday placed shipping containers on major roads and highways leading to the capital and cut off cell phone service in Islamabad to prevent infiltration by supporters of the jailed former prime minister. It stopped. imran khan They stopped holding rallies calling for his release.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government also added paramilitary rangers and police to schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Mr. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its calls for protests. was closed.
Videos posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on major highways near the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtankhwa, where Mr Khan’s party is in power. . The state government mobilized heavy machinery to lift the blockade, officials said. Mr Khan’s supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad, defying a ban on public gatherings imposed this week.
Police arrested some party supporters in Islamabad, brandished batons and used tear gas to prevent rally participants from entering the capital from the northwest, according to a video posted by PTI on social media. It is reported that he did so.
Mr Khan, Mr Sharif’s main political rival, has been in prison for more than a year in connection with more than 150 police cases. He remains a popular figure despite incidents that critics and his party say are politically motivated. He was ousted in a vote of no confidence in parliament in 2022 and arrested in 2023 after a court sentenced him to three years in prison in a corruption case.
Mobile phone services were suspended in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday, disrupting communications and affecting basic services such as online banking, ride-hailing and food delivery services. Many people faced travel difficulties due to roadblocks.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told Prime Minister Khan’s party to cancel planned protests and warned there would be “no mercy” if they did not comply with the ban on protests.
He told reporters in Islamabad on Friday that armed supporters of Mr Khan were marching through Islamabad. “They should think about what they are doing to Pakistan by marching through Islamabad with weapons,” he said. “It is clear that they intend to launch an attack on Islamabad,” Naqvi said.
He said the government will not tolerate those who cause damage in the country.
Mr Khan’s spokesman Zulfiqar Bukhari rejected the government’s request to withdraw the call for protests, saying it was the constitutional right to hold peaceful assemblies.
Khan posted a message on his social media accounts urging his supporters to join the protests.
“The tyrants in power are trying to terrorize us,” he said. “So don’t be afraid to come forward. And if you’re still hesitant, remember to step forward and truly free yourself.”
Sharif’s government said Khan’s party wants to weaken the country’s economy with violent protests despite threats from the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks in recent years.
Pakistan has recently $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fundis struggling to overcome the economic crisis.
On Friday, Khan’s supporters gathered in Swabi, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and began a march towards Islamabad.
Ali Amin Gundapur’s chief minister, Ali Amin Gundapur, who led a large rally near Islamabad last month demanding Khan’s release, was scheduled to take part in the march.
___
Mr. Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.
