Supporters of the Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan have continuously staging protest in the countries capital Islamabad demanding released of their political leader.
Islamabad remained lockdown since late Saturday as prime minister ordered invoking article 245 of the Pakistan constitution.
The country’s interior minister put out a statement saying the Pakistani military army has been deployed in Red Zone to protect important government buildings including Prime Minister Office, National Assembly and other offices.
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“Article 245 of the Constitution of Pakistan allows the government to call in the army to aid a civilian government in implementing law and order,” said the minister.
Meanwhile, the interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has spoken to reporters at D-Chowk, claiming that the PTI’s political leadership is eager to engage in dialogue but a “hidden hand” is overruling their decisions.
“Their entire leadership is keen on having peaceful dialogues but there is one hidden hand which is controlling the decision-making and has an anti-Pakistan agenda and in my experience, that hidden hand is the root cause of all this chaos,” said Mohsin.
The PTI convoy, which departed from Peshawar on Sunday, is led by Bushra Bibi, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister.
But, PTI have remained ‘determined’ with protesters have entered Islamabad and are just a few hundred metres from the Red Zone, where they want to hold a sit-in.
But waiting for them are the police. We can hear them firing tear gas shells, possibly rubber bullets as well, and the situation remains extremely tense.
In the same vein, GLOBAL TRACKER learned that a source have told Aljazeera media network that one police officer was killed and dozens injured in a clashes between opposition supporters and police yesterday.
The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet sporadically cut and more than 20,000 police personnel flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.
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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khan was barred from standing in the February elections, marred by allegations of rigging and sidelined by dozens of legal cases that he claims were concocted to prevent his comeback.
The PTI has defied a government crackdown with regular demonstrations, aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.
Last week, the Islamabad city administration announced a two-month ban on public gatherings.