One killed, dozens injured in clashes with Imran Khan’s supporters near Pakistan’s capital

(Reuters)

ISLAMABAD, Nov 25 – At least one police officer was killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital Islamabad on Monday, officials and Khan’s party said.

Authorities have enforced a security lockdown for the last two days after Khan called for a march on parliament for a sit-in demonstration to demand his release, while highways into the city have been barricaded.

One police officer was shot and killed, at least 119 others were injured, and 22 police vehicles were torched in clashes just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in the Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said. Two officers were in critical condition, he said.

Khan’s party said scores of its workers were also hurt.

It said the jailed leader’s third wife, Bushra Bibi, and a key aide, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were leading a march that arrived almost inside Islamabad on Monday night.

The government has used shipping containers to block major roads and streets in Islamabad, with patrols of police and paramilitary personnel in riot gear.

Officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals had also been shut down in the eastern province to keep away the protesters,

Provincial Information Minister Uzma Bukhari said about 80 of Khan’s supporters had been arrested.