Sawt Falasteen - Pakistan detains hundreds from ex-PM Khan's party as protests falter

The detentions followed the central government's imposition of emergency rule on Sunday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial stronghold of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, after major protests demanding the former premier's release.

Two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media, said 278 PTI members had been detained in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since the emergency declaration.

The government disbanded the PTI-led government under the emergency measures that it says were imposed due to deteriorating security in the border province, which is also battling militant attacks.

In the provincial capital Peshawar, police were deployed in large numbers on the first full day of emergency rule, with scores stationed outside Hashtnagri Gate, one of the historic entrances to the city's centuries-old walled quarter.

Makeshift barriers formed from shipping containers and razor wire to block traffic to Peshawar's administrative zone remained in place.

More than a dozen police personnel were deployed at each of the container checkpoints, equipped with protective shields, batons and tear gas shells.

Schools were also closed on Monday and digital monitor Netblocks reported "major disruption to the internet connectivity" in parts of the province the previous night.

"People are facing difficulties because of this colonial-style rule. What's happening right now is that children can't go to school, containers have been placed to block roads, businesses are suffering," Saeed Khan, a driver, told AFP.

The PTI-ruled province was placed under emergency rule following days-long anti-government demonstrations in which thousands of Khan's supporters marched throughout the province and vowed to travel to the capital in protests that also voiced anti-government grievances fuelled by harsh economic conditions.

The PTI-led provincial government would be "non-functional" until the security situation improves, the country's law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said after emergency rule was announced.

PTI figures have called for fresh demonstrations in the wake of the emergency announcement, but sporadic protests on Monday drew far smaller crowds than the "long march" days earlier.

- 'Protective custody' -

A police officer told AFP that police fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd in Bara, a town in the province's western Khyber district, and five people were detained as dozens protested there.

Around 30 PTI supporters in Peshawar briefly chanted slogans demanding Khan's release before being dispersed by police, only to return shortly afterwards in a game of cat and mouse, AFP journalists witnessed.

In the city of Mardan, an AFP journalist saw a truck that had acted as a rallying point during the long march protests stripped of its images of Khan.

The hugely popular former cricket star's party said on Sunday the province's chief minister Sohail Afridi had been arrested hours after the extraordinary constitutional measures were announced by Pakistan's presidency.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed Afridi had been placed in custody but said he had not been "arrested", without providing further details on the detention.

An administrative official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the chief minister had been placed in "protective custody" in his official residence but later moved to another location, which he did not disclose.

Islamabad has accused the PTI administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of failing to deal with militancy in the province, saying that necessitated the imposition of emergency rule.

Mahmood Ul Islam, a 72-year-old lawyer in Kohat, south of Peshawar, told AFP he welcomed the emergency order, accusing the provincial government of "incompetence".

"They were unable to get law and order under control, bring terrorism under control, and to solve the problems of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," he said.

The PTI has vehemently opposed the constitutional measures, describing them as undemocratic and a grab for power by the federal government.

The protesters' demands in recent weeks included access to Khan by his doctors. Recent talks between PTI leaders and the government broke down on October 4, prompting the start of the demonstrations.

Khan has been behind bars since August 2023, facing scores of charges ranging from corruption to inciting violence, following widespread anti-establishment riots in May that year.

He and his legal team reject the allegations, branding them politically motivated.

Y.Shaath--SF-PST