Imran Khan supporters breach lockdown in Islamabad, several people killed

Supporters seeking the release of imprisoned Pakistani former premier Imran Khan broke through a ring of shipping containers locking down the capital Islamabad, while at least six people have died in protest-related violence.

Protesters battled security forces on Tuesday and ignored a government threat to respond with gunfire.

The dead included four members of the security services and one civilian who were killed when a vehicle rammed them on a street.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack on Tuesday, saying an “anarchist group” was deliberately targeting law enforcement personnel.

There were no claims of responsibility for the ramming. A police officer died in a separate incident.

In the early hours of Tuesday, protestors clashed with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at a western motorway entry to Islamabad.

"After overcoming the police blockade, the convoys continued their journey, with vehicles stretching over two kilometres as they moved forward," local news website The Express Tribune reported.

The cricketer-turned-politician has been jailed since August 2023, facing a procession of legal accusations ranging from illegal marriage to graft and inciting riots.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has held regular demonstrations aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.

The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.

According to the daily Dawn, the protest was originally scheduled to be staged on November 24, but the convoys took a breather last night after PTI leaders said they were in "no hurry" to reach the federal capital for their "do or die" protest.

Overcoming police blockade

Last week, the Islamabad city administration announced a two-month ban on public gatherings.

But PTI convoys travelled from their power base in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the most populous province of Punjab, hauling aside roadblocks of stacked shipping containers.

"We are deeply frustrated with the government, they do not know how to function," 56-year-old protestor Kalat Khan told AFP news agency. "The treatment we are receiving is unjust and cruel."

The government cited "security concerns" for the mobile internet outages, while Islamabad's schools and universities were also ordered to shut on Monday and Tuesday.

"Those who will come here will be arrested," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters late on Monday at D-Chowk, the public square outside Islamabad's government buildings that PTI aims to occupy.

'Panic' in Islamabad

PTI's chief demand is the release of Khan, the 72-year-old former cricket star who served as premier from 2018 to 2022 and is the lodestar of their party.

They are also protesting alleged tampering in the February polls and a recent government-backed constitutional amendment giving it more power over the courts, where Khan is tangled in dozens of cases.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said "blocking access to the capital, with motorway and highway closures across Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has effectively penalised ordinary citizens".

PTI sources meanwhile told Anadolu Agency that negotiations with the government are under way to designate a site in the capital for a sit-in, and if agreed, protesters would not march towards the Parliament House.

Accompanied by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur is among the demonstrators.

Bibi, in a brief address to the protesters, said the march will end only after Khan's release.

"My brothers, as long as Imran is not with us, we will not end this march," she told supporters at a stop near the Hazara Interchange on Monday. "I will stay there till my last breath, and all of you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about the country and its leader," a veiled Bibi said on an open-roof truck.