One person died, many were injured when supporters of Imran Khan protested in Pakistan | Protests News

Supporters of the former prime minister marched in the capital, Islamabad, demanding his release from prison.

At least one policeman was killed and dozens injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital, Islamabad, officials and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said.

Authorities imposed a two-day security shutdown across the country after Khan called for a march to parliament and a sit-in to demand his release.

On Monday, one policeman was shot dead, at least 119 were injured and 22 police vehicles were set on fire during clashes outside Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said. Two police officers were in critical condition, he added.

PTI said that a number of its workers have also been injured in the meeting so far.

The Minister of Interior, Mr. Mohsin Naqvi, said that those who will face the death of this policeman will face justice.

Speaking at the funeral of Constable Muhammad Mubashir in Rawalpindi, Naqvi said that this is not the first time that policemen have been killed during political protests.

“Last time they also attacked … our workers were martyred, and today we had to have another funeral,” Naqvi told the media.

“Those who called the protesters will face this death. We will not spare anyone, and charges will be filed against all of them.”

The protest march, which Khan described as “the last call”, is one of many his group has held to demand his release since he was jailed in August last year.

His party said the jailed leader’s third wife, Bushra Bibi, and his aide, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, led the march outside Islamabad on Monday night.

“Physically, it has been very challenging to walk regularly in this cold, but our spirits are high, and we are looking forward to reaching our destination tonight,” PTI leader Asim Arbab told Al Jazeera upon arrival at the Islamabad checkpoint.

Islamabad is closed

In response to PTI’s calls for protests in Islamabad, the government imposed measures such as closing the city’s entry and exit points and enforcing an internet blackout. Shipping containers were used to block highways and streets in the city, and police and military aid workers patrolled with riot gear.

Officials and witnesses said all public transport between cities and terminals has also been closed in the eastern province to prevent protesters, while gatherings in Islamabad have been banned.

All schools in the capital and the nearby city of Rawalpindi, which were closed on Monday, will remain closed on Tuesday, authorities said.

Naqvi said the security forces showed “extreme restraint” when dealing with the protesters, some of whom he said fired live while the police used rubber bullets and fired tear gas.

“It’s easy to answer a bullet with a bullet,” he said.

But Khan’s party accused the government of using excessive violence to stop the protesters and said hundreds of its workers and leaders had been arrested.

“They are also firing live ammunition,” one of Khan’s aides, Shaukat Yousafzai, told Geo News.

Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Geo News TV that the government had held talks with PTI leaders to defuse the situation, “but there were no results.”

Sayed Zulfi Bukhari, a senior PTI leader who is close to Khan, dismissed Asif’s claim and said that no talks have taken place with the government.

“We entered Islamabad, and we don’t need to talk to the government,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Our demands are absolutely unreasonable, and it is something that every citizen of Pakistan should demand.”