Violence has escalated in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following the federal government’s imposition of emergency rule and suspension of the provincial government led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Police firing and shelling were reported in several areas.
Protests broke out yesterday against the federal intervention. The PTI’s planned march to Islamabad was disrupted amid a security crackdown. Police reportedly arrested 59 PTI workers in Swabi and six in Khyber district. Reports also said former Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar had been taken into custody. Former Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said he had been placed under house arrest in Dera Ismail Khan.
Security personnel were deployed at major intersections and highways, while mobile phone and PTCL internet services were suspended in Swabi.
The PTI condemned the imposition of emergency rule, calling it an attack on democracy. It demanded the release of its leaders and disclosure of the legal grounds for their arrests. The Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayin-i-Pakistan also announced plans to challenge the move in courts, assemblies and public forums, and said the planned protest march would continue.
