Politicians from the party of the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan have been detained after the suspension of a provincial government now under emergency rule.
Pakistan’s president declared a state of emergency and suspended the government in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, led by Khan’s ally Sohail Afridi, on Sunday.
Asif Ali Zardari’s federal government said the emergency rule was invoked after the provincial government failed to tackle Islamist militancy in the province, which borders Afghanistan.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rejected that assertion, saying it was enforced to deter his supporters from marching to Islamabad, the capital, to pressure the government for his release.
The imposition of emergency rule and suspension of the provincial government have sharply escalated confrontation between the 74-year-old former cricket star and the country’s powerful military.
The emergency rule came a week after Khan’s supporters had rallied for days in the province, intending to march to Islamabad to demand his release and provide medical treatment.
“Yes, I can confirm that the chief minister and some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody,” the government minister Talal Chaudhry told Reuters.
If any were found to have cases to be tried against them, they would be charged and tried, he said, but the others would be released. He said the detentions occurred on Sunday at the provincial chief minister’s house in the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Witnesses and officials said the chief minister’s house and other important facilities in the vicinity had been cordoned off with a heavy police presence, paramilitary forces and shipping containers.
Shaukat Yousafzai, an aide of Khan, condemned the detentions and demanded the politicians’ release.
Khan’s three sisters and hundreds of his supporters were also detained before the planned march.
The party’s last large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes with security forces, and Khan’s 2023 arrest prompted nationwide riots that led his supporters to attack military installations.
Pakistan’s constitution allows the government to take over from provincial authorities during an emergency.
The minister of law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, said a provincial governor would take charge in the province after the president declared the state of emergency. The province has suffered an increasing number of militant attacks in recent months.
The federal government and the military accuse Khan’s PTI of failing to curb the violence, a charge the party denies.
Zardari’s administration and the PTI held several rounds of talks since the call for the march was made last month.
The government was ready to accept all of the PTI’s demands, including a go-ahead for the march, Tarar said, adding: “We asked for just one thing, that the party should publicly condemn the militancy and join our hands in the fight against militants.”
They did not agree and that is why the talks broke down, he said.
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