TV footage shows Imran Khan’s supporters burning tires as they set up protest camps on the streets.
Islamabad:
Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan blocked roads, disrupted traffic and forced schools to close near the capital on Tuesday, as he tried to assassinate their leader at a recent anti-government rally. was opposed.
The former cricket star, who has been pressing for a general election since being ousted as prime minister after losing a trust vote in parliament in April, was shot at a rally last Thursday. He is recovering from a leg wound.
Police officer Yawar Ali said, “People are finding it very difficult to go to work.” “The families were stuck in traffic for hours. We have even received reports that the protesters did not allow the ambulance to pass.”
Mr Khan’s successor as prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, has rejected his demand for new elections and the standoff has caused instability in the nuclear-armed country of 220 million people.
Mr Khan’s supporters began their protest on major streets around Islamabad late Monday. They have blocked Islamabad’s international airport and a highway connecting the capital to the cities of Lahore and Peshawar.
Television footage showed Khan’s supporters burning tires as they set up protest camps on the streets.
The government ordered all state and private schools to close for the day, according to an order seen by Reuters.
Mr Khan, 70, led a long march from Lahore to the capital on 28 October in what is known as the protest rally.
He was shaking hands with a truck-mounted container in Wazirabad city of Punjab province last Thursday when a man opened fire on him.
Mr Khan was among 10 injured. A party worker died.
The police have arrested the suspected shooter.
Mr Khan’s party announced late Monday that the march to the spot where Mr Khan was attacked would resume on Thursday, and that he would virtually lead it.
The political tension comes as Pakistan grapples with economic turmoil, with recent floods that the government estimates caused $30 billion in economic losses.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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