Four security forces killed as Khan supporters flood capital

Pakistani protesters demanding the release of ex-prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday killed four members of the nation's security forces, the government said, as the crowds defied police and closed in on the capital's center.

More than 10,000 protesters armed with sticks and slingshots took on police in central Islamabad yesterday afternoon, AFP journalists saw, less than three kilometers from the government enclave they aim to occupy.

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.

But his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has defied a government crackdown with regular rallies. Yesterday's was the largest in the capital since Khan was jailed in August 2023.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said "miscreants" involved in the march had killed four members of the paramilitary rangers force 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, it is extremism."

The government said on Nov. 25 that one police officer had also been killed and nine more were critically wounded by demonstrators who set out towards Islamabad on Nov. 24.

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.