Pakistani forces launch midnight raid on ex-PM Imran Khan's supporters, local media reports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's security forces launched a sweeping midnight raid on supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan who had stormed the capital demanding his release on Tuesday, local media said, with hundreds arrested amidst chaotic scenes.

Thousands of protesters had earlier gathered in the centre of Islamabad after a convoy, led by Khan's wife, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city's highly fortified red zone.

The red zone, guarded by army soldiers, houses the country's most important offices and buildings, including the parliament and an enclave of foreign missions.

At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, were killed before the Tuesday night raid was launched.

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 a barrage of teargas was fired. The protest gathering was almost completely dispersed, they reported.

Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said they planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, speaking to journalists, ruled out any negotiations with the protesters who he said had used weapons against security forces and were heavily armed and had broken a ban on gatherings in the city.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blamed the protesters for the soldiers' deaths, accusing them of ramming the paramilitary troops with a convoy of vehicles.

Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesman for PTI, denied that charge. He said two protesters had also been killed and 30 injured in the clashes, the worst political violence seen in months in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.

One of the protesters was shot dead and the other was run over by a vehicle, Bukhari said. Authorities did not respond to a query seeking to confirm the deaths and Reuters could not independently verify the information.

"It is not a peaceful protest. It is extremism," Sharif said in a statement, aimed at achieving "evil political designs".

Sharif said the violence was driving the law enforcement agencies to the "limits of restraint".

Amnesty International said the government must fully protect the rights of protesters and immediately rescind "shoot-on-sight" orders that it said gave undue and excessive powers to the military.

Earlier, in a post on X from jail, Khan, 72, said his message to his supporters was to fight till the end.

"We will not back down until our demands are met," he said, accusing security forces of firing on peaceful party workers.

The violence erupted at the end of a march led by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi and his key aide Ali Amin Gandapur that arrived in Islamabad early on Tuesday.

Reuters reporters saw some of the marchers ransack vehicles and set a police kiosk on fire. They also attacked and wounded journalists at two separate locations, people from two media houses told Reuters.

'FINAL CALL'

The protest march, which Khan has described as the "final call", is one of many his party has held to seek his release since he was jailed in August last year.

PTI supporters last marched on Islamabad in October, sparking days of clashes with police in which one officer was killed, but this week's protest is bigger in size and more violent, authorities said.

They said the protesters were now armed with tear gas launchers, steel rods, slingshots and sticks and were setting fire to trees and grass as they marched. Reuters witnesses heard firing around the protests, although it was not clear who was responsible.

PTI has also called for a rollback of constitutional amendments it says the government made to handcuff the judiciary, which has questioned the legitimacy of several cases against Khan.

The turmoil has rattled investors. Pakistan's benchmark share index .KSE closed down a record 3.57% on Tuesday.

Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute, said the intensity of the latest protests underscored Khan's strong hold over his large base.

"A political solution, one with negotiations and concessions, is the only way out of this crisis," he said. "But this is an especially bitter and personal confrontation between two sides taking maximalist positions on everything."

Voted out of power by parliament in 2022 after he fell out with Pakistan's powerful military, Khan faces charges ranging from corruption to instigation of violence, all of which he and his party deny.

Candidates backed by Khan's party won the most seats in a parliamentary election in February, but a coalition cobbled together and led by Sharif took power.

Khan and the PTI say the polls were rigged following a military-backed crackdown to keep him out of power. The army has denied charges of election manipulation.

Read the latest news here