ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani protesters demanding the release of ex-prime minister Imran Khan yesterday killed four members of the nation’s security forces, the government said, as the crowds closed in on the centre of the capital.
Protesters armed with sticks and slingshots took on police in western Islamabad yesterday morning, less than 10 kilometres from the government enclave they aim to occupy.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said four members of the paramilitary Rangers force had been killed in an attack on a city highway leading towards the government sector. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the men had been “run over by a vehicle”.
“These disruptive elements do not seek revolution but bloodshed,” he said in a statement.
“This is not a peaceful protest.”
The government said on Monday that one police officer had been killed and nine more were critically wounded in two days of clashes with demonstrators as they closed in on the capital.
Khan was barred from standing in February elections that were marred by allegations of rigging, sidelined by dozens of legal cases that he claims were confected to prevent his comeback.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a government crackdown with regular demonstrations aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.
The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet sporadically cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.
