Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pakistan's police arrest dozens of supporters of ex-PM Khan

The Pakistani opposition party led by recently ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan is accusing police of detaining dozens of its supporters in an attempt to foil a planned rally in Islamabad

Via AP news wire
Monday 23 May 2022 22:26 BST
Pakistan Politics
Pakistan Politics (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The key opposition party led by recently ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan accused police of detaining dozens of its supporters Monday in an attempt to foil a planned protest seeking to force Pakistan's government into calling early elections.

Fawad Chaudhry, a spokesman for Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said the police operation began just after midnight and officers were still raiding the houses of supporters late in the day.

Khan took to Twitter, condemning the arrests of his supporters.

No government official was immediately available for comment.

The development came two days after Khan urged his supporters to gather in Islamabad on Wednesday for a demonstration that he said would continuuntil the government announced a date for snap elections.

Khan, who served as prime minister for over three and half years, was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament in April. He was replaced as prime minister by Shahbaz Sharif.

Khan contends his removal was the result of a U.S.-organized plot. Washington has denied the claim, and Sharif calls it a pack of lies.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in