Pakistani capital locked down to prevent rally of ex-leader Imran Khan's party

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways leading to the capital and suspended mobile phone service in Islamabad on Friday in a bid to prevent supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan from organize a rally to demand his release.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government also deployed additional paramilitary rangers and police and closed schools in Islamabad and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi after Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for demonstration.

Videos posted online show police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on a key highway in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Khan's party holds power. Khan's supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad, defying a ban on gatherings imposed this week.

Police reportedly arrested some party supporters.

Khan, Sharif's main political rival, has been in jail for over a year in more than 150 police cases. He remains a popular figure despite affairs that critics and his party say are politically motivated. He was ousted in 2022 following a vote of no confidence in Parliament and arrested in 2023 after a court sentenced him to 3 years in prison in a corruption case.

The suspension of mobile phone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday disrupted communications and affected basic services such as online banking, transport and food delivery services. Many people had difficulty traveling due to obstacles placed on the roads.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called on Khan's party to cancel the planned protest and warned there would be “no leniency if the protest ban is defied.”

A post on Khan's social media account urged his supporters to join the protest.

The tyrants in power want to terrorize us,” he said. “So move forward without fear and remember, if you still hesitate, to move forward and truly free yourself.

Sharif's government says Khan's party wants to weaken the country's economy by staging violent protests despite the threat of attacks from the Pakistani Taliban, who have intensified their attacks in recent years.

Pakistan, which recently received a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, is struggling to overcome an economic crisis.

On Friday, Khan's supporters gathered in Swabi, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to begin a march towards Islamabad.

Provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gundapur, who led a large rally last month near Islamabad to demand Khan's release, planned to join the march.

Officials said the provincial government had mobilized heavy machinery to remove shipping containers placed by federal authorities on the highway leading to the capital.

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Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.

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