Pakistan Protests: At Least Four Killed as Ex-Pakistan PM Khan’s Supporters Enter Islamabad
Several security personnel have died and dozens of civilians injured in the latest escalation of protests surrounding Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad.
Thousands of protesters seeking the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan have closed in on the city as of Tuesday afternoon, local time, after days of marching south from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khan’s power base.
Federal government officials said four members of the Pakistan Rangers a paramilitary unit separate from the nation’s army were killed in an attack by demonstrators on a highway leading towards central Islamabad on Tuesday morning.
Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators while Imran Khan’s party claims the number will be much higher.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the four men had been “run over by a vehicle” on a street, though there were no claims of responsibility for the ramming. One civilian also died.
A police officer was also shot and killed in a separate incident on Monday. Officials and local media reported at least a further 100 police were injured in protest-related violence.
Shortly after midnight, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi threatened security forces would respond with live fire if protesters fired weapons at them.
“We have now allowed police to take any decision according to the situation,” he said.
“If they again fire bullets, the bullet will be responded with the bullet.”
Along with issuing shoot-at-sight orders, the government also deployed the military on Tuesday afternoon as crowds reached within 10km of D-Chowk, a large open area in Islamabad’s governmental Red Zone where protesters are seeking to converge for a “final call”.
Islamabad has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet sporadically cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.
Last week, the Islamabad city administration announced a two-month ban on public gatherings.
The government cited “security concerns” for the mobile internet outages, while Islamabad’s schools and universities were also ordered shut on Monday and Tuesday.
