Pakistani Authorities To Release Nearly 1,000 Protesters

Pakistani authorities arrested nearly 1,000 supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who stormed the capital this week to demand his release, the city’s police chief said on Wednesday.

Khan’s aides alleged hundreds had suffered gunshot wounds during chaotic scenes overnight in the heart of Islamabad as police dispersed protesters led by Khan’s wife, who had broken through security barricades, without immediately providing evidence. They also said thousands were arrested.

Islamabad’s police chief, Ali Rizvi, denied that live ammunition had been used during the operation, which he said was conducted alongside paramilitary forces.

Rizvi said 600 protesters were arrested in Tuesday’s operation, bringing the total over the last three days to 954.

He said weapons, including automatic rifles and tear gas guns, were seized from the protest site, where thousands had gathered, which was cleared in a matter of hours.

Ali Amin Gandapur, a top Khan aide and chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was a part of the protests and fled the site when the operation began, accused the authorities of using excessive force against what he said were peaceful protesters.

He said “hundreds” had sustained bullet wounds.

Pakistan’s information minister and an Islamabad police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the allegation that hundreds had been shot by security.

“Both Imran Khan’s wife and I were attacked directly,” Gandapur told a press conference in the city of Mansehra, located in the province he rules and about 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Khan, who was leading thousands of protesters, escaped unhurt. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had said she would be addressing the press conference with Gandapur, but she did not appear despite the event being delayed by hours.

Zulfikar Bukhari, a spokesman for PTI, said earlier that the sit-in protest seeking Khan’s release had been called off, citing what he called “the massacre.” But Gandapur said the protest would continue until Khan himself called it off.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq