Islamabad, Nov 27 (EFE).- Pakistani forces launched a sweeping midnight operation against ers of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who had gathered in the capital Islamabad to demand his release, with hundreds arrested amidst chaotic scenes.
The Islamabad police said in a statement that an operation was launched against protesters from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in which 500 had been arrested.
The statement added that more arrests were being made while about 1,500 police officers were participating in the operation.
of the paramilitary Rangers force was also accompanying the police in the operation.
Thousands of protesters had gathered outside the country’s parliament defying teargas and road blockades to demand his release.
They were pushed back for 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) from the iconic D-Chowk, a major town square located near the government buildings, to China Chowk from where they were dispersed.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists in the early hours of Wednesday that the chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Ali Amin Gandapur, and Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who were leading the protest fled the sit-in site toward KP.
“They ran away in front of you, not one or two or three but thousands of people ran away,” he told the media.
He said it was a priority to restore the roads that had been closed for traffic in the capital.
He also announced that schools in Islamabad and the adjacent Rawalpindi city would reopen on Thursday.
“Mobile and internet services will be restored by morning. You will find all roads in working condition by morning,” he added.
Naqvi said the istration would try to remove all containers by morning.
Addressing a press conference soon after Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that documents were found detailing a plan of PTI ers to enter the highly secured Red Zone, where most government buildings are located, to attack the parliament and government property, and target state officials.
The PTI shared footage of alleged firing by law enforcement agencies at party protesters, claiming that intense shelling was under way.
PTI leader Zulfiqar Bukhari alleged that law enforcement agencies set fire to Bibi and Gandapur’s container after attacking it, but that both were safe.
“We got them safe before as we had intel (intelligence), ” he said in a short statement.
Later, the PTI announced that the much-hyped protest in Islamabad, which began on Sunday has now been called off.
“In light of the government’s brutality and plans to turn the federal capital into a slaughterhouse for unarmed citizens, we are announcing the temporary suspension of our peaceful protest,” the party said in a press release early Wednesday.
The former ruling party said that it would announce the future course of action in the light of guidance from party founder Khan.
At least six people, including three paramilitary soldiers and one police officer, were killed in clashes with PTI ers before the midnight raid was launched. PTI also claimed three of its ers had also been killed.
In a statement on Wednesday, the party said that several of its workers had been killed during the operation.
“A massacre has unfolded in Pakistan at the hands of security forces under the brutal, fascist military regime,” PTI said.
“Armed security forces launched a violent assault on peaceful PTI protesters in Islamabad, firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible,” it added.
The party also shared footage of abandoned, damaged vehicles of its ers parked near the site of the protest. Other footage showed several dead bodies being shifted to hospitals with several others injured.
Live gunshots were also heard with hundreds running on the roads towards safer places.
“With hundreds dead and countless injured, the interior minister’s threat to kill and then the declaration of “victory” over slaughtered innocents is enough evidence of the regime’s inhumanity,” the party said.
PTI lawmaker Shafqat Abbas Awan claimed that the authorities were not handing back the dead bodies of the workers to their families.
“Dead bodies are not being handed over to family or party officials to cover up the atrocities that have been committed,” he said in a statement shared by PTI.
Earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had warned the protesters of ordering direct fire on them if they did not retreat.
The party of the incarcerated former prime minister urged the world to condemn the use of force against unarmed civilians.
“The world must condemn this atrocity and the erosion of democracy and humanity in Pakistan,” said PTI adding that “the international community must take a strong stand against this brutal crackdown.” EFE
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