Pakistan capital locked down, phone service suspended to stop rally by party of ex-leader Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways leading to the capital and suspended cellphone service in Islamabad on Friday in an attempt to prevent supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding a rally seeking his release.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government also deployed paramilitary rangers and additional police and shut schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for the protest.

Videos posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on a key highway near the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party holds power. Officials said the provincial government mobilized heavy machinery to remove the blockades. Khan’s supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad, defying a ban on rallies imposed this week.

Police reportedly arrested some party supporters from Islamabad and swung batons and used tear gas to prevent the rallygoers from entering the capital from the northwest, according to video posed by PTI on social media.

Khan, Sharif’s main political rival, has been in prison for more than a year in connection with more than 150 police cases. He remains a popular figure despite the cases, which critics and his party say are politically motivated. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament and arrested in 2023 after a court handed him a 3-year jail sentence in a graft case.

The suspension of cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday disrupted communications and affected basic services such as online banking, ride and food delivery services. Many people faced difficulties traveling because of the obstacles placed on the roads.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told Khan’s party to cancel the planned protest and warned that there would be “no leniency” if the ban on protests is defied.

He told reporters in Islamabad Friday that armed supporters of Khan were marching on Islamabad. “They should think what they are going to do with Pakistan by marching on Islamabad with weapons,” he said. “I am very clear that they are going launch an assault on Islamabad,” Naqvi said.

He said the government would not allow anyone to cause damage in the country.

Khan’s spokesman, Zulfiqar Bukhari, rejected the government’s demand to withdraw the call for the protest, saying it was their constitutional right to hold a peaceful rally.

A message on Khan’s social media account urged supporters to join the protest.

“The tyrants in power want to terrorize us,” it said. “So go forth fearlessly, and remember if you still hesitate, to step forward and truly liberate yourself.”

Sharif’s government says Khan’s party wants to weaken the country’s economy by staging violent protests despite the threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks in recent years.

Pakistan, which recently received a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, has been struggling to overcome an economic crisis.

On Friday, supporters of Khan gathered in Swabi, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to begin a march toward Islamabad.

Provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gundapur, who led a large rally last month near Islamabad demanding Khan’s release, planned to join the march.

___

Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.

Munir Ahmed And Riaz Khan, The Associated Press