Nearly 1,000 held after PTI Islamabad protests

(Reuters): Authorities arrested nearly 1,000 supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan who stormed Islamabad this week to demand his release, the city’s police chief said on Wednesday.

Khan’s aides alleged, without immediately providing evidence, that hundreds had suffered gunshot wounds during chaotic scenes overnight in the heart of Islamabad as police dispersed protesters led by Khan’s wife who had broken through security barricades. They also said thousands had been arrested.

Islamabad Inspector General of Police Ali Rizvi denied that live ammunition had been used during the operation, which he said police had conducted alongside paramilitary forces.

Rizvi said 600 protesters had been arrested in Tuesday’s operation, bringing the total since the protest sit-in began on Sunday to 954.

He said weapons, including automatic rifles and tear gas guns, were seized from the protest site where thousands had gathered. The site was cleared in a matter of hours.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who was a part of the protests and fled when the operation began, accused the authorities of using excessive force against protesters who he said were peaceful.

He said “hundreds” had sustained bullet wounds.

Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar and an Islamabad police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the allegation.

“Both Imran Khan’s wife and I were attacked directly,” Gandapur told a press conference in Mansehra.

PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari said earlier that the protest seeking Khan’s release had been called off, citing what he called “the massacre”. But Gandapur said the protest would continue until Khan himself called it off.