Pakistan capital locked down, phone service suspended to stop rally by party of ex-leader Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways leading to the capital and suspended cellphone service in Islamabad on Friday in an attempt to prevent supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding a rally seeking his release.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government also deployed paramilitary rangers and additional police and shut schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for the protest.

Videos posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on a key highway near the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party holds power. Officials said the provincial government mobilized heavy machinery to remove the blockades. Khan’s supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad, defying a ban on rallies imposed this week.

Police reportedly arrested some party supporters from Islamabad and swung batons and used tear gas to prevent the rallygoers from entering the capital from the northwest, according to video posed by PTI on social media.

Khan, Sharif’s main political rival, has been in prison for more than a year in connection with more than 150 police cases. He remains a popular figure despite the cases, which critics and his party say are politically motivated. He was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament and arrested in 2023 after a court handed him a 3-year jail sentence in a graft case.

The suspension of cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday disrupted communications and affected basic services such as online banking, ride and food delivery services. Many people faced difficulties