UPDATE – Opposition protesters near Pakistani capital amid clashes

UPDATES WITH LATEST DETAILS, CLASHES; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Aamir Latif and Riyaz ul Khaliq

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Thousands of protesters pushing for the release of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday entered the capital Islamabad amid clashes with security forces that left at least one policeman dead and several others injured.

Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), called for nationwide protest rallies and asked people to descend on the capital to take back the “looted” mandate in the wake of alleged poll rigging in the Feb. 8 general election, the release of political prisoners, as well as undoing controversial changes in the South Asian nation’s judiciary.

Since Sunday, protesters began marching towards Islamabad, which has been fortified with heavy security, including paramilitary Rangers, and continued on Monday.

The government said that at least one police officer was killed and 20 injured – several of them critically – in firing by the protesters.

The police officer was killed near Islamabad, said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the death and ordered that the culprits be identified and given exemplary punishments.

PTI sources told Anadolu that negotiations with the government are underway to designate a site in the capital for a sit-in, and if agreed, protesters would not march towards the Parliament House.

Accompanied by Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa Province Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was among the demonstrators, according to social media videos from PTI.

Bibi, in a brief address to the protesters, said the march will end only after Khan’s release.

“My brothers, as long as Imran is not with us, we will not end this march,” she told supporters at a stop near the Hazara Interchange. “I will stay there till my last breath, and all of you have to support me. This is not just about my husband but about the country and its leader,” a veiled Bibi said on an open-roof truck.

- Roads to capital blocked

Amid a heavy crackdown on Khan's supporters, new police cases have been filed against former President Arif Alivi, Gandapur, Bibi and other PTI leaders.

The Pakistani government denies Khan’s claims of election fraud as well about cases filed against him and other PTI members, which the party says are “bogus.”

The government has closed educational institutions in Islamabad while all motorways and roads leading to the capital have been blocked as authorities placed thousands of commercial containers on the roads.

In many places, roads were dug up and trucks and heavy stones were placed on highways to block the rallies but protesters were seen clearing the roads to continue their march.

The government has threatened to deal with all those entering Islamabad with a heavy hand after it imposed restrictions on assemblies of four or more people in the capital.

More than 4,000 PTI supporters have already been detained in Pakistan's biggest province of Punjab alone to thwart the march to the capital, according to media reports.

Khan, 72, asked his supporters to reach Islamabad, camp there, and not return home without the government giving into the PTI’s demands.

The PTI has held dozens of such nationwide rallies and demonstrations since Khan was ousted from power in April 2022.

The so-called final call by Khan for Nov. 24 was also supported by thousands of overseas Pakistanis in more than two dozen nations, according to the PTI.

Thousands of Pakistani expats and their supporters assembled in the European nations as well as the US, Canada, and Australia to seek the release of Khan, who has been in jail since last August.

Italy and the UK saw the biggest rallies in support of Khan and his PTI, according to the videos of the demonstrations shared on the party's social media.