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Thousands March for Imran Khan's Release in Pakistan
Confirmed
In Short: Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan have started a long march to Islamabad, demanding his release, according to his party.
Supporters of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan began a march towards Islamabad on Sunday, carrying red and green flags of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, according to the BBC (United Kingdom) and Bhaskar English (India).
The march, which started in Lakki Marwat, a city 275km (170 miles) from Islamabad, was expected to resume on Monday after pausing for the night, as reported by the BBC (United Kingdom) and Bhaskar English (India).
Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Straitstimes (Singapore) reported that authorities in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, blocked main access routes to the city with double-stacked shipping containers ahead of the planned demonstration, citing concerns over potential unrest.
According to Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and BBC (United Kingdom), the government's preemptive crackdown 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 ordinance.
Dozens of lawmakers, regional leaders, and opposition activists affiliated with Imran Khan's party, PTI, were also rounded up across multiple districts in Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad, as reported by Arabnews (Saudi Arabia), BBC (United Kingdom), and Straitstimes (Singapore).
The march organizers have not officially announced that they were heading for Islamabad, but authorities have already stacked up shipping containers to block key access routes to the capital, according to the BBC (United Kingdom) and Bhaskar English (India).
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, as reported by Arabnews (Saudi Arabia), BBC (United Kingdom), and Globalvillagespace.
Police deployed 22,000 security personnel to lock down Islamabad, barring entry and exit to neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan's party rules, according to AFP and Arabnews (Saudi Arabia).
The government's security plan includes deploying around 32,500 security personnel, with the largest contingent stationed at entry points, as reported by Globalvillagespace.
Supporters of Khan's party say they are not concerned about their lives and will not back down, as quoted by Bhaskar English (India).
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry, said the talks failed mainly because the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government could not assure the Centre of its cooperation in the fight against terrorism, according to Bhaskar English (India).
The march is expected to pass through Karak, Kohat, and Peshawar before reaching Islamabad, as announced by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday night.
Background
Supporters of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan began a march towards Islamabad on Sunday, carrying red and green flags of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
AFP and Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) reported that authorities in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, blocked main access routes to the city with double-stacked shipping containers ahead of the planned demonstration, citing concerns over potential unrest.
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 motorway is closed, and ordinary people are facing serious difficulties because of this situation," 25-year-old schoolteacher Nayhmat Khan said.
- "The targeting of Imran Khan's family and PTI party activists is a flagrant violation of their rights to liberty, freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly," said Babu Ram Pant from Amnesty International.
- "No one will be allowed to shut down the city."
- 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 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."
- Khan and his legal team reject the allegations, branding them as politically motivated cases aimed at neutralising his popularity.
- Some 5,000 people took to the streets on Sunday carrying red and green flags of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan have begun a march from the country's north-west as they call for his release.
- Originally scheduled for last week, it was postponed to allow for talks between the government and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party but the talks ended in deadlock.
What's still developing
- Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meanwhile accused Afridi of "sabotaging" negotiations, saying the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had backed out of earlier commitments on counter-terrorism issues, according to Pakistan's local media reports.
- Supporters from Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat joined the march from Gandhi Chowk.
- Shehbaz’s position will be in danger if march intensifies Avinash Mohanani, who served at the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, said pressure on the Shehbaz government would increase as Imran’s supporters’ long march enters Punjab from Khyber.
- Khan lost power in 2022, after a parliamentary no-confidence vote for which he implicated the Pakistani military and the U.S. government. (Both have denied the accusations.) Khan then became witheringly critical of the military leadership, calling out some top officials by name.
- The South Asia Terrorism Portal datasheet on Pakistan says there have been more than 1,140 incidents of killings related to terrorism there between January 1 and October 5, 2026.
- GENEVA — People displaced by the renewed fighting in Yemen have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
- ISLAMABAD: Pakistani goods transporters warned on Thursday that road closures and vehicle seizures ahead of an opposition march on the capital were disrupting freight movement and could bring supply chains to a halt, as the government prepared contingency plans to keep fuel moving.
- “If timely relief is not provided, the supply chain will come to a complete halt.” Chaudhry said more than 2,000 vehicles had been seized in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Gujrat, Sialkot and other cities and called on authorities to immediately release loaded vehicles.
- Pakistan Railways told a meeting chaired by Malik it would make the maximum number of train wagons available to transport high-speed diesel if road movement was disrupted, with particular emphasis on maintaining supplies to KP.
- Despite being jailed since 2023, Khan, a popular former cricket star, maintains great influence in Pakistan, with he and his followers convinced that his imprisonment is the result of political persecution.
- It deepened after Khan's arrest in May 2023 sparked riots in which his supporters attacked military installations, prompting a crackdown in which thousands of PTI supporters were detained and dozens of people were later sentenced by military courts.
- Talks intended to stop the mobilisation have stalled, Islamabad’s approaches are being restricted, and thousands of Khan supporters are continuing towards the capital.