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Pakistan: Khan supporters call off protest in Islamabad

Published November 27, 2024last updated November 27, 2024

Jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI party has temporarily suspended protests after his supporters were cleared from central Islamabad in an overnight raid. At least six people have been killed in demonstrations.

https://p.dw.com/p/4nTDX
Pakistani paramilitary Rangers with riot shields in front of car
Jailed ex-PM Imran Khan's PTI party announced it had called off a protest in Islamabad after Pakistani media reported a massive overnight raidImage: Akhtar Soomro/REUTERS

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Wednesday temporarily suspended protests in Islamabad demanding the leader's release.

At least six people, including four paramilitary troops and two protesters, have been killed in the demonstrations.

Two Islamabad city workers in orange vests clean roads with brooms; damaged vehicles are seen on the road
After the protests' dispersal, city workers cleaned roads Khan supporters had passed throughImage: Akhtar Soomro/REUTERS

What do we know about the police raid in Islamabad?

Pakistani media reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces overnight in the capital, leading to the dispersal of the PTI protests.

On Wednesday, authorities reopened roads linking Islamabad with the rest of the country, ending a lockdown in place since Sunday.

"All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.

Several vehicles were left behind in the heavily fortified Red Zone, including a truck from which Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, had been leading the protests. The Reuters news agency cited witnesses as saying that the vehicle appeared to be charred by flames. 

Imran Khan supporters force their way into Islamabad

The PTI's leader in the city of Peshawar, Mohammad Asim, told the Reuters news agency that Bibi had returned "safely" to the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province alongside Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

The province with its capital in Peshawar is seen as a PTI stronghold and its chief minister is a key Khan ally.

"The movement is continuing and it will be ended only by Imran Khan," Gandapur said after retreating from Islamabad.

Later on Wednesday, Pakistan police said they had arrested nearly 1,000 protesters between Sunday and Tuesday.

Islamabad Police Inspector General Ali Nasir Rizvi said demonstrators came within 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of D-Chowk square.

Rights commission calls for dialogue

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called for Khan and parties in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's governing coalition to "immediately enter a purposeful political dialogue."

"It is high time that they agree on a peaceful way forward instead of whipping up the emotions of their respective political workers and bringing the country to a standstill," it said.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International alleged that "as protesters enter the capital, law enforcement officials have used unlawful and excessive force."

Why were Imran Khan supporters protesting in Islamabad?

On Tuesday, thousands of PTI supporters broke police blockades made up of shipping containers, entering the capital and marching onto D-Chowk square, a historic rallying point that lies on the edge of Islamabad's Red Zone.

Khan supporters had begun a "long march" on Sunday to the capital from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the most populous province of Punjab to demand his release.

The embattled former prime minister faces over 150 criminal cases that he says are politically motivated.

Khan was ousted in 2022 in a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since the start of the demonstrations and thousands were reportedly arrested ahead of the march.

sdi/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters)