Imran Khan supporters pushed back by security forces 17 hours ago Flora Drury BBC News, London Supporters of jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan have been pushed back by security forces after reaching the heart of the heavily-barricaded capital earlier on Tuesday.
At least six people were killed – four paramilitary soldiers, and two protesters – as the march moved through the city, clashing with security forces at points.
However, thousands of Khan supporters remain in the area – to keep warm in the biting cold, protesters have started burning paper and other materials inside rubbish bins.
“My message to my team is to fight till the end, we will not back down,” the former prime minister said on X.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who blamed the protesters for the deaths of four soldiers on Tuesday, dismissed the march as “extremism”.
Security forces push back Imran Khan supporters.
Seventeen hours ago.
Drury, Flora.
London’s BBC News.
Security forces have pushed back supporters of imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan after they entered the center of the heavily fortified capital earlier Tuesday.
The opposition protesters’ convoy has been marching since the weekend toward D Chowk, also known as Democracy sq\., in Islamabad, calling for a number of demands, including Khan’s release.
Four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters were among the six people killed as the march proceeded through the city, occasionally colliding with security forces.
However, some demonstrators did manage to reach D Chowk, where they were observed scurrying over shipping containers erected to obstruct their path.
However, security personnel were able to evacuate the square a few hours after the demonstrators arrived. Only police officers and paramilitary soldiers remained after the lights were turned off as night fell.
According to a local police officer, some demonstrators had advanced past the three-tiered stack of shipping containers, but they were pushed back after just a few hundred meters.
Nevertheless, thousands of Khan supporters are still in the area, and protesters have begun burning paper and other materials inside trash cans to stay warm in the bitter cold. Many have gone so far as to burn bushes and grass on the greenbelts and walkways where people congregate.
Muhammad Shahid, who traveled from Punjab province with his family, claims that Imran Khan’s message is the reason they are here: “He says we must fight for our rights.”. “.”.
“We are here to defend our fundamental rights,” he continues. We will fight to have our voices heard because Imran Khan was unlawfully arrested. “.”.
Khan, who has been imprisoned for over a year on what he claims are politically motivated charges, has urged his supporters to keep going in the direction of D Chowk.
On X, the former prime minister stated, “My message to my team is to fight till the end, we will not back down.”.
The former cricket player has shown himself to be a significant figure in Pakistani politics, even while incarcerated. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which was prohibited from running and had to field candidates as independents, became the single largest bloc in the February elections.
They did not, however, receive the majority, and their opponents banded together to form a new government.
The government disputes the protesters’ claim that the election results were manipulated, and they are demanding that they be overturned.
Khan issued a “final call” to his supporters, urging them to remain in the capital until their demands were fulfilled and calling on them to take to the streets over the weekend.
In response, the government, which had already imposed a ban on public gatherings, placed shipping containers in the streets of Islamabad and dispatched police officers from all over the nation.
Schools and colleges have been closed due to violence concerns, and restrictions seem to have been implemented on certain internet services.
An alternate location for the protest was offered to the demonstrators, but they declined, according to Pakistan’s interior minister.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, called the march “extremism” and accused the demonstrators of being responsible for the deaths of four soldiers on Tuesday.
He claimed in a statement that “these disruptive elements do not seek revolution but bloodshed.”.
The spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, Zulfikar Bukhari, told news agency Reuters that at least two protesters had been killed: one had been shot, and the other had been run over by a car.
There have been at least fifty injuries.
