VIDEO: Pakistan deploys troops to halt protest violence after ex-PM Imran’s arrest
- 10 May 2023
Tariq Butt / AP
Pakistan’s government called out the military on Wednesday in areas roiled by deadly violence following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was dragged from a courtroom and ordered held for another eight days on new corruption charges that outraged his supporters and deepened the country’s political turmoil.
In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the unrest by Khan's supporters "damaged sensitive public and private property," forcing him to deploy the military in the capital of Islamabad, the most populous province of Punjab and in volatile regions of the northwest.
Earlier during the day, the Ministry of Interior authorised the deployment of Pakistan army troops in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in aid of civil power to maintain the law and order situation due to the protests by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) in the wake of its chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest.
The exact numbers of troops/assets, date and area of deployment will be worked out by the provincial governments in consultations with the military operations’s directorate of the General Headquarters (GHQ), an official order said.
Following a cabinet meeting, PM Shahbaz denounced the attacks on public property and military installations, and he approved the deployment of troops in Islamabad, Punjab and KP provinces, according to a government statement.
The law and order situation in some cities of Punjab and KP is not good, which necessitated the summoning of the army troops by the provincial governments.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants all parties in Pakistan to refrain from violence and stresses the need to respect the right to peaceful assembly, deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said in New York on Wednesday. Guterres had also urged Pakistani authorities to “respect due process and the rule of law in proceedings” against Imran Khan.
Britain is monitoring the situation in Pakistan carefully, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday. “The arrest of the former prime minister is an internal matter for Pakistan. We support peaceful democratic processes and adherence to the rule of law and we are monitoring the situation carefully,” Sunak told lawmakers.
Imran Khan speaks at his Lahore residence on Tuesday. Reuters
After Imran was arrested Tuesday, crowds in Islamabad and other major cities blocked roads, clashed with police, and set fire to police checkpoints and military facilities in violence that left six people dead and hundreds arrested. On Wednesday, protesters stormed a radio station in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"Such scenes were never seen by the people of Pakistan,” Sharif said, following a Cabinet meeting. "Even patients were taken out of ambulances and ambulances were set on fire.”
Calling such attacks "unforgivable,” he warned that those involved in violence would be given exemplary punishment.
Shahbaz said Imran was arrested because of his involvement in corruption, and that there was evidence available to back up these charges.
Supporters of Imran Khan block a road as they protest against the arrest of their leader in Peshawar. AP
"What the eternal enemy of the country could not do for 75 years, this group, wearing a political cloak, in the lust for power, has done it,” the statement said, adding that troops had exercised restraint but they will respond to further attacks, and those involved will bear the responsibility.
It said "strict action” would be taken against those who planned or took part in attacks on military sites. It did not directly name Khan in its statement.
Imran Khan's Islamabad appearance was on multiple graft charges brought by police. As he arrived, the courtroom was stormed by dozens of agents from the anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, backed by paramilitary troops. They broke windows after Khan’s guards refused to open the door.
The former cricket star has denounced the cases against him, which include corruption and terrorism charges, as a politically motivated plot by Sharif, his successor, to keep him from returning to power in elections to be held later this year.
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Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has appealed for calm, but the country was on high alert. Police were deployed in force, and they placed shipping containers on a road leading to the sprawling police compound in Islamabad where Khan was held. Despite it, demonstrators on Wednesday evening attacked and burned down the office of a senior police officer responsible for the security of the police facilities, including the one where Imran Khan is being held.
His supporters in Peshawar raided a building housing Radio Pakistan, damaging equipment and setting it ablaze, said police official Naeem Khan. Some employees were trapped inside, he said, and police sought to restore order.
In eastern Punjab province, the local government asked the army to step in after authorities said 157 police were injured in clashes with protesters. Police arrested 945 Khan supporters in eastern Punjab province alone since Tuesday, including Asad Umar and Sarfraz Cheema, two senior leaders of his party.
A police officer fires a tear gas shell towards the supporters of Imran Khan during a protest in Peshawar. Reuters
Mobs angered by the dramatic arrest set fire to the residence of a top army general in the eastern city of Lahore, and supporters attacked the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near Islamabad. They did not reach the main building housing the offices of army chief Gen. Asim Munir.
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan throw stones towards police in Peshawar. Reuters
Demonstrators also tried to reach the prime minister's residence in Lahore, but were stopped by police. Still others attacked troop vehicles, hitting armed soldiers with sticks. So far, police and soldiers have not opened fire at protesters.
None of the leaders from Khan’s party denounced the attacks on the military, although they have appealed for calm.
By morning, police in Lahore said about 2,000 protesters still surrounded the fire-damaged residence of Lt. Gen. Salman Fayyaz Ghani, a top regional commander. They chanted, "Khan is our red line and you have crossed it.” Ghani and his family were moved to a safer place Tuesday when the sprawling house was attacked Tuesday.
Some protesters took out their wrath on the military, torching the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and laying siege at the entrance to the army's general headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
"At a time we are already struggling to feed our children, further uncertainty has been created," Farooq Bhatti, a van driver, told AFP in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning.
"The violence will not serve anyone... everyone will be affected... but I doubt the decision makers care."
