Pakistan protests: Khan supporters reach central Islamabad

Pakistan’s security forces launched a sweeping midnight raid on supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan after they stormed Islamabad demanding his release, local media said, with hundreds of them arrested.

Local broadcasters Geo News and ARY both reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces amidst a pitch-dark central Islamabad, where lights had been turned off and teargas was fired.

Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters had gathered in Islamabad city center after a convoy, led by Khan’s wife, broke through several lines of security all the way to the city’s Red Zone, which houses the country’s most important offices and buildings.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ruled out any negotiations with the protesters.

He also insinuated that Khan's wife was responsible for all economic losses and the people killed during the protests.

Protesters, led by Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, reached the edge of D-Chowk in Islamabad's highly fortified red zone, with some reaching the square.

At least six people were killed, and dozens injured in the clashes.

• Supporters of imprisoned Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan have stormed Islamabad, seeking his release. 
• Tens of thousands of Khan's supporters broke through heavily fortified barriers, gathering at D-Chowk in Islamabad, in the center of the capital where the parliament, supreme court, and prime minister's office are situated.
• Imran Khan, from jail, urged his supporters to continue protests until their demands, including his release and the government's resignation, are met.
• Four security officers were killed after being run over by a speeding vehicle on the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad, according to police. There were also reports of several people being wounded, including journalists who had been attacked by Khan supporters.
• The government has deployed thousands of police, paramilitary personnel, and soldiers, placing the capital under an indefinite lockdown since Saturday due to threats from Khan's supporters to release him by force.
• Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi says there will be no negotiations with protesters.

Imran Khan and his PTI party have a very loyal base who have been willing to join mass protests and even clash with security forces. DW spoke to one such supporter.

"We have faced all the hurdles and pain for Imran Khan, who is fighting for the people’s rights and we will not leave this place until they release Khan," Adnan Khan, A PTI protester, told DW.

"We are ready to die for Khan," he said.

Political commentator Zahid Husain and legal expert Osama Malik both told DW that they were doubtful the military would get involved in putting down the protests, but warned that the situation could escalate.

"If the army is going to crush the protesters then the situation will be beyond their control and things will be worse," Husain told DW. 

"If things turned violent then there will be a possibility of direct military intervention that will further deteriorate the situation."

Malik agreed that the military could respond violently if they themselves encountered violence.

"A military takeover is not the answer," he said. "Military intervention is unlikely. However, if army officers are killed in clashes with this armed horde, then all bets are off," he added.

Supporters of Imran Khan were met with tear gas from security personnel as they marched through Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed his supporters from jail in a post on the platform X, saying that they had "stood up for their rights [and] engaged in peaceful protests."

He urged his supporters to continue fighting and to "not back down until our demands are met."

Imran Khan's PTI party is demanding the release of the jailed former leader and the resignation of the current government, which it accuses of manipulating February elections.

He called for protesters to make their way to the D-Chowk square, which is a historic rallying point that lies on the edge of the fortified Red Zone that contains key government buildings.

Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister in 2022 after a no-confidence vote ousted his predecessor, Imran Khan.

He was then replaced by a caretaker government and took power again after elections in February 2024. While Khan-supported independents took the largest share of seats in parliament, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PLM-N) formed government in a coalition with several other parties.

The businessman has also served as the chief minister of Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab.

Sharif is the younger brother of PLM-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who was Prime Minister for two non-consecutive terms in the 1990s and again from 2013 to 2017.

Zulfi Bukhari, a senior leader of Imran Khan's PTI party, told DW that the protest in Islamabad had been "peaceful."

"We are not there to fight, we just want our constitutional right," he said, stressing the "right to peaceful assembly."

"We just want democracy [and the rule of law] to return to Pakistan," he said, accusing the government of imposing "undeclared martial law."

Bukhari pointed to the fact that Khan had already been released on bail before more charges were brought against him.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's supporters are hopeful that their march on Islamabad will pressure the government to release their incarcerated leader.

But that is easier said than done. The actual power lies with the country's powerful military, which does not want to see Khan out of jail because of his alleged involvement with attacks on military installments on May 9, 2023.

As we now see, clashes between Khan's Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) activists and security forces have turned violent. This could force the military to intervene directly, something the generals have been avoiding since Khan was ousted from power in April 2022. Pakistan is at a crossroads, yet again.

Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI party have reached Islamabad's D-Chowk, according to Pakistani media.

Islamabad deployed the army, police and paramilitary rangers to the area ahead of the rally.

Pakistan's Dawn daily reported that dozens of protesters were gathering near the square that lies on the edge of the heavily fortified Red Zone, with some of them climbing containers placed by security forces.

DW spoke with journalist Adnan Aamir in Islamabad about the protests by Imran Khan's supporters who have reached the capital's D-Chowk, a square just some 500 meters (1,640 feet) away from the Pakistani parliament.

"That was the targeted location of the protesters," Aamir told DW. "Now the PTI has announced they will hold a sit-in protest at this location until Imran Khan, their leader is released."

The capital is in lockdown and there are still skirmishes and tear-gassing taking place, the journalist said: "The situation is still tense, life is still paralyzed, and that's why the people of Islamabad just want a timely resolution of this problem."

As to why the PTI is now carrying out these types of marches, Aamir explained that the government banned their regular protests, but the party has also found these marches to be "more effective at putting pressure on the government and it's evident that the government has completely failed to prevent these people from entering into Islamabad."

Neither the government nor the protesters have shown any willingness to give in and protesters have said they can keep going for days, Aamir said.

"There are some backchannel negotiations going on, but it is too early to say" how the protests will end.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) information secretary has urged protesters who have arrived at the D-Chowk square in Islamabad to remain peaceful in a post on the platform X.

He also told protesters not to go beyond D-Chowk.

D-Chowk lies on the edge of the highly fortified Red Zone of the capital, which contains multiple diplomatic missions and key government buildings.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry said that the army had been deployed to protect diplomatic missions in Islamabad's fortified Red Zone area.

The area is the site of many government buildings and embassies.

The army took control of the major D-Chowk square in the area, with paramilitary rangers and police also involved in security measures.

Visiting Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was staying in the Red Zone on Tuesday as part of an official trip.

One convoy of supporters on its way to D-Chowk included Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, who was jailed in a graft case alongside her husband. Bibi was recently released on bail.

Imran Khan, 72, is a former cricketer who served as prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

He faces over 150 criminal cases and has been in jail for over a year.

Khan's PTI party claims that the charges are politically motivated.

Khan has been behind bars since his first conviction in a corruption case in August, 2023.

He was sentenced in that case to 14 years in prison, alongside his wife Bushra Bibi, for selling state gifts worth millions of rupees while in government. Bibi was released last month after the sentences were suspended on appeal. But Khan cannot be released due to a string of pending cases against him.

Khan founded the PTI in 1996, although its first major electoral victory was in 2013, when it took over the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and then won its first federal election in 2018.

Candidates supported by the PTI won the largest share of seats in Pakistan's parliament in a February election in which they were forced to run as independents.