Pakistan Launches Crackdown on Imran Khan Protest in Islamabad – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s government has launched a crackdown and arrested scores of protesters from former prime minister Imran Khan’s party who launched a sit-in in Islamabad following two days of violent protests that left at least six people dead.

Speaking to private channel ARY News, Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar said that the search operation is continuing and many protesters have been arrested. Tarar said the main protest area has been cleared and all barricades will be removed on Wednesday. Zulfi Bukhari, a spokesman for Khan’s party, said in a text message that the crackdown was too severe.

Thousands of Khan’s supporters have broken through barricades and clashed with police over the past two days to meet in Islamabad, defying efforts by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to prevent them from entering Islamabad. Authorities had previously turned off street lights in the protest area. Khan’s party shared images of the empty main truck, on top of which senior party leaders had been standing to lead the march since November 24, being set on fire.

The protest is seen as the biggest political challenge since Sharif’s coalition government came to power after national elections in February. The prime minister said such protests served to distract his government, which faces the critical task of reforming the country’s weak economy by making tough decisions under the International Monetary Fund’s new loan program. These include taxing the agricultural and retail sectors, which have resisted initiatives in the past.

At least four security officials and two supporters of the politician, who has been jailed for more than a year, were killed in violent protests. The country’s benchmark KSE-100 Index experienced the biggest decline in 11 months with 3.2% at the close of November 26.

(Updates with government comments in second paragraph.)

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