PESHAWAR — Police fired tear gas and live rounds at supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, as clashes erupted over the suspension of his party’s provincial government, party officials said, according to Reuters.
Five people were injured in the clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the most serious of them in Bara, about 15 km (9 miles) from the provincial capital Peshawar, according to Reuters. Police said 50 people were detained and would face terrorism and sabotage charges over damage to government property and disturbing law and order.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said protesters set fire to a National Database and Registration Authority center in Bara. The information secretary of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Ikram Khatana, said the blaze was started by unidentified people, who also stormed nearby offices, according to Reuters.
The federal government imposed a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday and placed the province under direct control, citing a surge in militant violence. The PTI says that explanation is a pretext for a political takeover of the only province the party governed.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif defended the decision on Tuesday, saying the federal government had been left with no option after efforts to resolve the situation through dialogue failed, according to Pakistani media reports.
The suspension of the PTI government is the latest blow against Khan, who has been in prison since 2023. He faces corruption and other charges, and allegations of inciting riots targeting military sites. Khan denies the allegations and says they are politically motivated.
Khan’s wife, three sisters and scores of party activists are also under detention, according to Reuters. Despite his imprisonment, Khan retains a large and passionate support base and remains at the center of Pakistan’s political conflict.
