Pakistan capital at standstill as Khan supporters protest

Key Khan aide Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was detained by police in Islamabad

Reading Time:3 minutes

Supporters and activists of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party take part in a protest in Islamabad on October 5. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:13pm, 5 Oct 2024Updated: 3:15am, 6 Oct 2024

Pakistan’s capital was locked down on Saturday, swarmed by security forces with mobile internet cut as supporters of jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan attempted to seize the streets in protest.

Khan was barred from standing in the February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases.

But his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a crackdown to needle the government with regular demonstrations.

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan. Photo: AP

PTI activists began driving to Islamabad on Friday from Khan’s power base in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but were met with shipping container roadblocks and volleys of tear gas.

Islamabad is on high alert ahead of a series of top-level diplomatic events over the next two weeks, including a visit by India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

On Saturday, small and scattered convoys pressed in on Islamabad in defiance of the government which approved troops for deployment on the streets – citing the need to guarantee security ahead of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on October 15 and 16, which will be attended by delegations from countries including China, India and Russia.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the authorities had intelligence that the protesters planned to disrupt the SCO conference in a bid to gain attention.