6 killed in Pakistan as protesters demand release of ex-PM Khan | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
6 killed in Pakistan as protesters demand release of ex-PM Khan

World+Biz

Reuters
26 November, 2024, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 26 November, 2024, 08:42 pm

Related News

  • Pakistan open, 'not desperate' for talks with arch-rival India, says foreign minister
  • Over 200 prisoners break out of Pakistani jail after earthquake panic: official
  • Trump says Pakistani representatives coming to US next week for trade talks
  • Pakistan to upgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan in easing of tensions
  • India and Pakistan's drone battles mark new arms race in Asia

6 killed in Pakistan as protesters demand release of ex-PM Khan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blamed the protesters for the soldiers' deaths, accusing them of ramming the paramilitary troops with a convoy of vehicles

Reuters
26 November, 2024, 05:30 pm
Last modified: 26 November, 2024, 08:42 pm
Security force personnel fire tear gas shells to prevent an anti-government rally by supporters of the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan's party PTI in Islamabad, Pakistan, 26 November 2024. Photo: Reuters
Security force personnel fire tear gas shells to prevent an anti-government rally by supporters of the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan's party PTI in Islamabad, Pakistan, 26 November 2024. Photo: Reuters

At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, were killed on Tuesday during clashes near Pakistan's parliament between security forces and protesters who are demanding the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blamed the protesters for the soldiers' deaths, accusing them of ramming the paramilitary troops with a convoy of vehicles.

Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), said two protesters had also been killed and 30 injured in the clashes, the worst political violence seen in months in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

One of the protesters was shot dead and the other was run over by a vehicle, Bukhari said. Authorities did not respond to a query seeking to confirm the deaths and Reuters could not independently verify the information.

"It is not a peaceful protest. It is extremism," Sharif said in a statement, aimed at achieving "evil political designs".

Sharif said the violence was driving the law enforcement agencies to the "limits of restraint".

Amnesty International said the government must fully protect the rights of protesters and immediately rescind "shoot-on-sight" orders that it said gave undue and excessive powers to the military.

In a post on X from jail, Khan, 72, said his message to his supporters was to fight till the end.

"We will not back down until our demands are met," he said, accusing security forces of firing on peaceful party workers.

"All protesting Pakistanis stay peaceful, united and stand firm until our demands are met - this is the struggle for Pakistan's survival and true freedom", he said.

The violence erupted at the end of a march led by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi and his key aide Ali Amin Gandapur that arrived in Islamabad early on Tuesday.

Reuters reporters saw some of the marchers ransack vehicles and set a police kiosk on fire. They also attacked and wounded journalists at two separate locations, people from two media houses told Reuters.

'Final call'

The interior ministry said the army had been deployed to protect diplomatic missions in the fortified red zone area where government buildings and embassies are located. Authorities have said a curfew could be imposed in the capital.

PTI rejected Sharif's accusation that the paramilitary troops had been rammed, and it reiterated that party supporters would hold a sit-in outside the parliament until their demands were met.

The protest march, which Khan has described as the "final call", is one of many his party has held to seek his release since he was jailed in August last year.

PTI supporters last marched on Islamabad in October, sparking days of clashes with police in which one officer was killed, but this week's protest is bigger in size and more violent, authorities said.

They said the protesters were now armed with steel rods, slingshots and sticks and were setting fire to trees and grass as they marched. Reuters witnesses heard firing around the protests, although it was not clear who was responsible.

PTI has also called for a rollback of constitutional amendments it says the government made to handcuff the judiciary, which has questioned the legitimacy of several cases against Khan.

The turmoil has rattled investors. Pakistan's benchmark share index (KSE), closed down a record 3.57% on Tuesday.

Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute, said the intensity of the latest protests underscored Khan's strong hold over his large base.

"A political solution, one with negotiations and concessions, is the only way out of this crisis," he said. "But this is an especially bitter and personal confrontation between two sides taking maximalist positions on everything."

Voted out of power by parliament in 2022 after he fell out with Pakistan's powerful military, Khan faces charges ranging from corruption to instigation of violence, all of which he and his party deny.

Candidates backed by Khan's party won the most seats in a parliamentary election in February, but a coalition cobbled together and led by Sharif took power.

Khan and the PTI say the polls were rigged following a military-backed crackdown to keep him out of power. The army has denied charges of election manipulation.

South Asia

Pakistan / Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Israel says it has launched strikes on Iran amid nuclear tensions; blasts heard across country
    Israel says it has launched strikes on Iran amid nuclear tensions; blasts heard across country
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at the second round dialogue of the National Consensus Commission with political parties in Dhaka on 2 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    'People see government as the enemy': CA Yunus during interview with The Guardian
  • Infographics: TBS
    Lengthy legal road ahead to repatriate Saifuzzaman's wealth from UK

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
    Railway seeks Tk2,000cr foreign loans to revive coach assembly, modernise workshops
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom
    Brother sues Latifur's daughter, widow over alleged forgery to seize control of Transcom

Related News

  • Pakistan open, 'not desperate' for talks with arch-rival India, says foreign minister
  • Over 200 prisoners break out of Pakistani jail after earthquake panic: official
  • Trump says Pakistani representatives coming to US next week for trade talks
  • Pakistan to upgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan in easing of tensions
  • India and Pakistan's drone battles mark new arms race in Asia

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

3d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

12h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

13h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

13h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

14h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net