Supporters of Pakistan’s Imran Khan Call Off Protest

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party suspended street protests demanding his release from jail after a sweeping midnight raid by security forces in the capital Islamabad in which hundreds of people were arrested, local media reported.

Broadcaster Geo News, citing a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) statement, said the party had announced a “temporary suspension” of the protest, in which at least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters, have been killed.

A PTI spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Thousands of protesters had gathered in the centre of Islamabad on Tuesday after a convoy, led by Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city’s highly fortified red zone.

Geo News and broadcaster ARY both reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces in a pitch-dark central Islamabad, where lights had been turned off and a barrage of teargas was fired. The protest gathering was almost completely dispersed, they reported.

On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing some of the shipping containers that had blocked roads around the capital. The heavily fortified red zone was empty of protesters, but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck from which Bushra Bibi had been leading the protests that appeared charred by flames. Reports said.

PTI had planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.

PTI’s president for the city of Peshawar in the party’s northern stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said the party had called off the protest.

“We will chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation,” Mohammad Asim said.

He said that Bushra Bibi, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned “safely” to the province from the capital.

Pakistan’s benchmark share index (.KSE), opens new tab jumped more than 4% in intraday trade on Wednesday, recovering losses made on Tuesday when the index closed 3.6% down over the news of political clashes.

“With valuations remaining highly attractive, we expect the positive momentum to continue going forward,” said Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, adding that the sharp rebound in the market was due to hopes of political stability restoring investor confidence.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq