Pakistan’s security forces began a campaign to disperse Imran Khan’s supporters from the streets

Pakistan’s security forces launched an operation on Tuesday night to disperse supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan who had gathered in the capital to demand his release from prison.

The latest development came hours after thousands of Khan’s supporters, defying government warnings, broke through a barricade of shipping containers blocking a heavily guarded area in central Islamabad. They clashed with security forces, facing tear gas, mass detention and gunfire.

The situation has been tense in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister began a “long march” from the northwest to demand his release. Khan has been in jail for more than a year and is facing more than 150 charges that his party says are politically related.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was leading the protest, but fled when the police clashed with the protesters. Hundreds of Khan’s supporters have been arrested in a campaign that continues at night, and the police also want to arrest Bibi.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that the Red Zone, which includes government buildings and embassies, and surrounding areas has been cleared. Leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, have also fled the protest site.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani troops took control of D-Chowk, the main square in the center of Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses important government buildings and is home to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Soldiers can use live fire

Since Monday, Naqvi has threatened that the security forces will respond with fire if the protesters shoot at them with weapons.

“Now we have authorized the police to respond if necessary,” said Naqvi on Tuesday when he visited the scene.

Before the campaign started, protester Shahzor Ali said that people entered the street because Khan had called them.

“We will stay here until Khan arrives. He will decide what to do next,” Ali said. “If they shoot again, we will respond with bullets.”

Authorities have struggled to contain violence related to the protests. Six people, including four members of the security forces, died when a car hit them on the road on Tuesday night. A policeman died in another incident.

Dozens of Khan’s supporters beat up a videographer covering the protest for the Associated Press and took his camera. He suffered a head injury and was treated at the hospital.

On Tuesday afternoon, new waves of protesters marched unopposed to their final destination in the Red Zone. Many protesters carried Khan’s party flag on their shoulders or wore its colors on paraphernalia.

Naqvi said Khan’s party rejected the government’s proposal to meet on the outskirts of the city.

Information Minister Atta Tarar warned that there would be a negative government response to the violence. He said the government does not want Bibi to fulfill his goal of freeing Khan. “He wants the bodies to fall to the ground. He wants blood to be spilled,” he said.

The government says only the courts can order Khan’s release. He is ousted from office in 2022 by a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

In an effort to quell the unrest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. Messaging platforms were also heavily disrupted in the capital.

Khan’s group relies heavily on social media to demand his release and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. The X forum, banned in Pakistan, is no longer accessible, even with a VPN.

On Thursday, the court banned gatherings in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become almost impossible due to shipping containers blocking the roads. All educational institutions remain closed.