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Pakistan Deploys Tens of Thousands of Troops for Khan Protest

4:21 AM ETConfirmed

World Desk

In Short: Pakistan has deployed tens of thousands of security forces and blocked access to Islamabad ahead of a planned protest by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Ahead of Sunday's planned march, Pakistan authorities have detained three of Khan's sisters and hundreds of party activists, citing a need to maintain public order.

The show of force is the starkest sign in years of how divisions between Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the military-backed government have polarised the South Asian nation of 240 million.

Authorities in Pakistan's capital blocked main access routes to the city with double-stacked shipping containers Thursday ahead of a weekend demonstration by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

Police deployed 22,000 security personnel to lock down Islamabad, barring entry and exit to neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan's party rules.

The government's preemptive crackdown ahead of Sunday's planned protest intensified earlier this week with the detention of Khan's sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan, and Noreen Niazi under Punjab's Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance.

Dozens of lawmakers, regional leaders, and opposition activists affiliated with Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were also rounded up across multiple districts in Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad.

International human rights watchdogs have repeatedly expressed concern over increasing press censorship, mass arrests, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms in Pakistan amid the ongoing political impasse.

Cars could be seen stuck in traffic jams, with motorbike riders squeezing in and out of gaps between containers.

The PTI's last large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes with security forces.

More have been deployed in other parts of the country where protesters may gather.

Background

What's confirmed

• Authorities in Pakistan's capital blocked main access routes to the city with double-stacked shipping containers Thursday ahead of a weekend demonstration by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
• Police deployed 22,000 security personnel to lock down Islamabad, officials told AFP, barring entry and exit to neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan's party rules.
• The government's preemptive crackdown ahead of Sunday's planned protest intensified earlier this week with the detention of Khan's sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan, and Noreen Niazi under Punjab's Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance.
• Dozens of lawmakers, regional leaders, and opposition activists affiliated with Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were also rounded up across multiple districts in Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad.
• International human rights watchdogs have repeatedly expressed concern over increasing press censorship, mass arrests, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms in Pakistan amid the ongoing political impasse.
• "Such actions speak to the severity of the current restrictions in Pakistan." The 73-year-old former cricket star has been behind bars since August 2023 and faces scores of charges ranging from corruption to treason and inciting violence following widespread anti-establishment riots in May 2023.

What's still developing

• Iranian security forces and unidentified gunmen have reportedly engaged in heavy fighting in the southeastern city of Saravan, according to Iranian media and reports from the region.
• The agency identified the victim as Brigadier General Hossein Zarifi, who headed the Shahid Sajjad operational base in Saravan, near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
• The statement did not provide details about the circumstances of Zarifi’s death or identify who IRGC forces were fighting during the operation.
• Videos published by Haalvsh, a rights group and media organization, captured the sound of sustained gunfire as security forces blocked roads leading to the site of the clashes.
• Iranian state media and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said security forces had targeted what they described as a “terrorist” group, which it said had intended on carrying out an assassination operation but was identified and targeted based on information received from the public.
• Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan, is predominantly populated by people of Baloch ethnicity.
• The blast occurred at a mosque building near police headquarters At least 16 people, including five police officers, have been killed after a vehicle loaded with explosives rammed into a mosque in north-western Pakistan, according to a senior police official in Peshawar.
• A gun battle is still ongoing between attackers and security forces at the mosque, near police headquarters, in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• In a statement, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari expressed "his best wishes for the swift recovery of those injured in the explosion." Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief inspector general Zulfikar Hameed described the attack as a "suicide attack".
• Militancy in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply in recent months, targeting the military and police.
• Islamabad says militants use safe haven in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan.
• Afghanistan's Taliban government denies the accusation and says militancy is Pakistan's domestic problem.

Sources

• Reuterslink
• AFPlink
• Arabnewslink
• The Straits Timeslink
• Rferllink
• BBClink
• Al Jazeeralink
• Pragativadilink
• Tribunelink
• Independentlink
• Clickondetroitlink
• Arabnewslink
• Enlink
• Newsofbahrainlink
• The Indian Expresslink
• WarpBeat — background on Pakistan Arrests Imran Khan's Sister Before Planned Protest link
• TaiwanPlus News — video link