As several PTI protesters reached Islamabad’s D-Chowk, intense tear gas shelling was reported as security forces sprung into action amid a stalemate in talks between the government and the opposition party.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned what he said was an “attack by protesters”, which the interior minister said resulted in the deaths of at least four security personnel.
The incident comes as PTI convoys — plying roads countrywide since Sunday — gather in Islamabad for a much-touted power show to demand the release of its founder Imran Khan, among other things.
Addressing the media at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said: “Yesterday, a total of our four people were martyred, including three Rangers and a Punjab police official.
Stating that two Rangers and four Islamabad policemen were in critical condition, Naqvi said two additional superintendent of police (ASP) and a superintendent of police (SP) were among the injured.
The minister further said that 70 Punjab cops were also injured, five of whom were in critical condition.
In an earlier statement issued by his ministry, Naqvi had said four Rangers personnel had lost their lives in an alleged attack, condemning it in the strongest terms.
Meanwhile, state-run Radio Pakistan reported the deaths of five personnel, including three Rangers and two Punjab police.
“Scores of others were injured in attacks by the violent PTI workers,” the report claimed, adding that 22 vehicles of the Punjab police had been damaged.
“The police have arrested several violent protesters, while [the] process of identifying the perpetrators is underway,” the state media asserted.
A previous report had also stated that “five other Rangers personnel and several police officials sustained severe injuries”.
While an updated report did not specify the cause of the deaths, an earlier version, citing security sources, had said “miscreants rammed a vehicle into Rangers personnel” on Srinagar Highway in Islamabad.
The report had said a “bunch of miscreants, equipped with weapons and ammunition, pelted stones at the Rangers personnel and carried out indiscriminate firing on the security personnel at Chungi No 26 in Rawalpindi”.
Resultantly, the report said, a ranger personnel sustained serious injuries and was shifted to Rawalpindi Combined Military Hospital in critical condition.
PTI protesters inch closer to D-Chowk
Meanwhile, a Dawn.com correspondent at the scene said that some PTI supporters managed to reach Islamabad’s D-Chowk and climbed up a container on which army personnel were deployed.
The D-Chowk — the PTI convoys’ ultimate destination located in Islamabad’s high-security Red Zone area — houses key government buildings.
The government and the PTI have apparently opened a ‘back-channel’ for the sake of negotiations.
Last night, Naqvi seemed to confirm talks with the protesting opposition party, saying that the government had offered Sangjani — the same venue on the outskirts of Islamabad where the PTI held its Sept 8 rally — for the protest.
Late-night media reports suggested that PTI leaders were trying to prevail upon Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi, who is leading the main caravan of protesters coming from KP to Islamabad, to accept the proposal to change the protest venue.
Dawn quoted police officers as saying that the convoy of the PTI leaders and workers coming from KP comprised over 34,000 persons.
On Nov 13, Imran Khan issued a “final call” for nationwide protests on Nov 24, demanding the restoration of the PTI’s electoral mandate, the release of detained party members and the reversal of the 26th Amendment, which he said has strengthened a “dictatorial regime”.
PTI claims 2 killed as protesters shot at ‘by Rangers’
On the other hand, the PTI on Tuesday claimed that “paramilitary Rangers shot live ammunition” at its protesters in Islamabad, resulting in the death of two and injuring another four.
“Participants claim they saw at least six people being shot, two of whom died on the spot and four were taken to hospital,” the party said on X.
In a separate post, the party claimed that the “unarmed” party workers were under intense tear gas shelling by law enforcement agencies.
The “fake” government is willing to go to any extent to maintain its illegal occupation, the party said.
It added that the government, through its use of state institutions against its own people, was “not only inciting hatred among Pakistanis but also becoming the cause of Pakistan’s disgrace in front of the world”.__Courtesy Dawn.com
