Pakistani police and security forces launched a massive crackdown on thousands of supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on November 26 after they refused to call off a protest march demanding his release.
The protesters were dispersed and the capital cleared after security forces conducted a sweeping late-night raid, said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at a briefing. A security official told RFE/RL that around 500 people had been arrested.
It was unclear whether the leaders of the march were among those arrested or whether they managed to escape to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party holds power.
The Pakistani military deployed troops earlier on November 26 following the deaths of at least three army rangers. Dozens of security forces were wounded in clashes between them and the protesters, some seriously.
Naqvi told journalists in Islamabad at the late night briefing that the protesters had been successfully dispersed. He announced that schools would reopen on November 27 and all roads would be cleared.
The minister also said that details regarding the involvement of Afghan nationals in the protest would be shared with the media on November 27, adding that "an important decision has been taken about Afghan nationals," which would be announced in the next few days.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement during the day strongly condemning the killing of security forces by supporters of PTI. The ministry said on X that a policeman and four rangers were killed in the violence, but according to an RFE/RL correspondent at the scene, the number of rangers killed was three and their deaths were the result of an accident.
Before the raids security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Khan supporters after thousands defied roadblocks to march some 150 kilometers from the northwest toward Islamabad despite a lockdown and a ban on public gatherings.
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Khan Supporters Clash With Pakistan Security Forces Amid High Tensions In Islamabad
PTI claimed on X that the police in Islamabad fired directly at protestors and published a video in which a top Karachi official said that in the history of Pakistan there has not been an injustice equal to what he says is going on in Islamabad.
The city has been locked down since late on November 23 and mobile Internet services have been sporadically cut.
The Islamabad city administration last week announced a two-month ban on public gatherings, but convoys of Khan supporters traveled from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on November 25 determined to enter the city.
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Pakistani Police Use Tear Gas Against Khan Supporters (Video)
The leadership of PTI went ahead with their plans to travel to the capital even as Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif late on November 25.
PTI's chief demand is the release of Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
The 72-year-old former cricket superstar turned politician, has been in jail for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, although he enjoys huge popularity among Pakistanis. PTI has said the cases are politically motivated.
PTI has defied a government crackdown since Khan was barred from running in elections in February with regular demonstrations aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.
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Islamabad Locked Down As Imran Khan's Supporters Plan To Protest
The party is also protesting alleged tampering in the February polls and a recent government-backed constitutional amendment giving it more power over the courts, where Khan is tangled in dozens of cases.
Sharif's government has come under increasing criticism for deploying heavy-handed measures to quash PTI's protests, which have largely cut off Islamabad from the rest of the country, with travel to other parts of Pakistan almost at a standstill.
The key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab Province has been blocked by authorities with shipping containers, prompting protesters to use heavy machinery to remove the containers.
The ongoing clashes also have affected Afghan refugees living in Islamabad or nearby cities who say they cannot leave their homes and are afraid of getting arrested. One of them, Fazel Saber, who lives in a guesthouse in Islamabad, told RFE/RL by phone on November 26 that the security situation has disrupted his life.
“We have been banned from going out for three or four days, not even to the park near the guesthouse. Children and women also cannot go out," Saber said. "This is a deprivation of freedom, even though we are not illegal immigrants.”