Dozens of police personnel injured in clashes with PTI supporters

ISLAMABAD: Over 80 police personnel have been injured in clashes with supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan taking part in a march near Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday.

The march, which is being led by the head of the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where Khan’s party remains in power, aims to gather in the capital, defying a ban on congregations, to press for Khan’s release and agitate against the ruling coalition.

“The convoy, led by the chief minister, fired on the police and continuously used teargas against law-enforcers,” Naqvi told journalists.

He said more than 80 police officers had been treated for injuries since Friday, when clashes broke out just outside the city during an anti-government rally.

Authorities have sealed off Islamabad and blocked cellphone services to prevent the gathering.

Islamabad is on high alert ahead of a series of top-level diplomatic events scheduled over the next two weeks, including a visit by India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Naqvi said while the convoy was heavily armed, the police had been instructed not to carry weapons to prevent the situation from escalating. The government has deployed the army to enhance security in Islamabad.