Pakistan police crackdown clears Khan protesters from Islamabad

Lockdown in the capital lifted after protesters, who forced their way into city on Tuesday amid deadly clashes, cleared.

Pakistan’s security forces have driven supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the capital, Islamabad, following a sweeping crackdown overnight.

Authorities reopened roads linking the city with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday, confirming that the capital had been cleared.

Security personnel arrested hundreds of protesters during the operation and cleared the centre of the city of thousands who had gathered to demand the release of the politician, who alleges the charges are politically motivated.

On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing the shipping containers that had been used by authorities to block roads leading into the capital to halt the protesters’ march.

The march on the capital was called by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. It had planned to stage a sit-in to press for the release of Khan, who has been jailed since August 2023 in connection with more than 150 cases. The cricketer-turned-politician claims the cases were intended to prevent his comeback in contested elections this year.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, spearheaded the convoy that on Tuesday broke through security lines leading to the edge of the Red Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies.

More than 10,000 protesters confronted about 20,000 security personnel in deadly clashes that saw several people killed, including four paramilitary soldiers.

Supporters of former PM Imran Khan march towards Islamabad after clearing shipping containers placed by authorities [File: Aamir Qureshi/AFP]

Late on Tuesday, the army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in the Red Zone where protesters had gathered.

PTI announced a “temporary suspension” of the protests, broadcaster Geo News reported on Wednesday.

Mohammad Asim, PTI’s president for the city of Peshawar in the party’s northern stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told news agency Reuters that the party would “chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation”.

He said Bibi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned “safely” to the province from Islamabad. Police are known to be seeking Bibi’s arrest.

Police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. However, services have now been restored.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies