President Zardari suspends provincial government in escalation of tensions as Khan supporters march to Islamabad

Politicians from ⁠the party of the former Pakistani ​prime minister Imran Khan have been detained after the suspension of a provincial government now under emergency rule.

Pakistan’s president declared a state of emergency and suspended the ⁠government in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, led by Khan’s ally Sohail Afridi, on Sunday.

Pakistani authorities insist marchers calling for former PM to be released from jail will not reach the capital

Imran Khan’s supporters have begun a march to Islamabad to demand his release from jail after efforts by the government to halt the protest failed.

The march began in the former prime minister’s stronghold province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in north-west Pakistan on Sunday, according to leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Tens of thousands of police deployed and roads barricaded as PTI party demands release of jailed former PM

Leaders from Imran Khan’s party have vowed to go ahead with a nationwide demonstration in Pakistan to demand the former prime minister’s release, even as the government deployed tens of thousands of police to Islamabad, barricaded highways and issued arrest warrants to try to stop the march.

The state has taken extreme measures to prevent Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from proceeding with the march. It was announced after mounting concerns of the treatment of Khan, who has been in jail since 2023 on corruption charges.

Police crack down on family and political supporters of former PM who say authorities are ‘slowly killing’ him in prison

Three sisters of Pakistan’s incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan have been arrested amid a heavy-handed government crackdown on plans for a nationwide protest to demand Khan’s release.

The lawyer for the three sisters, Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, said on Monday that they had all been detained and jailed for 30 days under a warrant that accused them of being a threat to public order.

Supreme court ordered transfer of ex-leader whose health is reportedly deteriorating, but he was returned to prison several hours later

Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was briefly taken to a hospital in the country’s capital on supreme court orders after weeks of uproar about his deteriorating health.

Khan, 73, was transferred to the hospital in the early hours of Friday, but then moved back to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi after a ⁠few hours, a spokesperson for his party said on Friday.

Former leader and wife found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land in deal with property tycoon

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, another setback for the beleaguered leader who has already spent over 18 months in jail and is facing more than 100 cases.

Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land, worth billions of rupees, through a corrupt deal with a Pakistani property tycoon. Khan was given a 14-year sentence while his wife was given seven years, and Khan was fined 1m Pakistan rupees (£2,900).

Multiple protesters said to have been killed and hundreds injured in Islamabad amid calls for Khan’s release from jail

Pakistan’s army and police have been accused of firing on civilians, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries to hundreds of protesters who had stormed Islamabad on Tuesday to demand the release of the former prime minister Imran Khan from prison.

As tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters stormed the capital on Tuesday in defiance of government orders, the army and paramilitary forces were deployed in huge numbers and issued with shoot-to-kill orders to try to stop the crowds reaching the heart of Islamabad’s sensitive Red Zone, which houses the parliament, supreme court and prime minister’s residence.

More than 50,000 people had earlier forced their way into capital to demand former prime minister’s release

Pakistani security forces have launched a sweeping midnight raid on supporters of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan who had earlier forced their way through security barriers and entered Islamabad.

Thousands of protesters had gathered in the centre of the capital after a convoy, led by Khan’s wife, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city’s highly fortified red zone.

Government shuts down internet, blocks highways and brings in troops to stop protest by former PM’s supporters

Pakistan’s capital was put under lockdown as the government shut down the internet, blocked highways and brought in thousands of police and paramilitaries in an attempt to prevent supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan protesting in Islamabad.

Khan, who has been in jail for more than a year facing hundreds of charges, had issued a “final call” for his supporters to descend on Islamabad to demand his release and protest against recent changes to the judiciary and constitution.

Speaking from his jail cell, the former superstar cricketer had told the Guardian he would be willing to engage with army leadership

Pakistan’s military has no intention of entering into negotiations or cutting a deal with incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, senior military sources told the Guardian, after Khan said he would be willing to engage with the army leadership from his jail cell.

Khan, who is being held in Pakistan’s Adiala jail, is banned from meeting journalists but the Guardian was able to submit questions through his legal team.

Protests have been broken up with violence and opposition politicians from Imran Khan’s party arrested

Pakistani authorities have unleashed a draconian crackdown on dissent, breaking up opposition protests with violence and mass arrests and banning a movement to promote the rights of the ethnic Pashtun community under terrorism laws.

Hundreds of riot police fired teargas and charged with batons as supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, gathered to protest over the weekend in the cities of Islamabad and Lahore.

Move comes after supreme court ruling makes PTI largest party in parliament

Pakistan’s government is seeking to ban the party of the imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.

The move comes days after a supreme court ruling made the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) the largest party in the country’s parliament.

Supporters of former Pakistan PM, who is serving seven years in prison, hope acquittal paves way for release

A court in Pakistan has acquitted the former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife on charges of unlawful marriage, just a day after his party won the majority of reserved seats in the supreme court.

Syed Zulfi Bukhari, an adviser to Imran Khan on international affairs and media, said: “The court has not only thrown out the case but the judge has ordered for the immediate release of Imran Khan and his wife.”

High court members allege ISI put cameras in their bedrooms and tortured a relative to make them hear an appeal against ex-PM

Claims by senior Pakistani judges that the intelligence agencies put pressure on them in cases involving the former prime minister Imran Khan have reached the country’s supreme court, following the publication of an unprecedented letter that has created a storm in Pakistan.

The letter from the six high court judges alleged the abduction of family members, torture, installation of cameras in their bedrooms and threats from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).