Pakistani police have detained 278 members of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since emergency rule was imposed on Sunday, two police officials told AFP on Monday.
The federal government disbanded the PTI-led provincial government, saying security in the border province had deteriorated amid militant attacks. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the provincial government would be “non-functional” until the security situation improves.
Schools were closed on Monday and police set up container barriers in Peshawar. Monitoring group Netblocks reported major disruption to internet connectivity in parts of the province.
Protests on Monday drew much smaller crowds than the earlier “long march”. The PTI said Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had been arrested. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said he was in custody but had not been “arrested”.
The PTI has called the measures undemocratic and said they are a grab for power by the federal government. Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and rejects the charges against him as politically motivated.
