Clashes erupt in Pakistan after provincial government is suspended

Police clashed with supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The clashes followed the federal government’s move to suspend the province’s government and place it under direct control.

The government cited rising militant violence, while Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said the emergency was a pretext for a political takeover.

Party officials said police fired tear gas and live rounds and that five people were injured; the provincial administration denied the live-fire claim and said police responded to rioting and vandalism.

The administration said about 50 people were arrested and four cases registered under anti-terrorism laws.

Khan has been in prison since 2023, and the party’s provincial government was its only one; responsibility for a fire at a government registration centre in Bara is to be established through an investigation.