More than 5,000 supporters of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, who is under arrest, today demanded his release on a march to the capital of the country, Islamabad, after failed talks between government and opposition.
© Lusa
04/10/2026
by
Lusa
Vriding on a train of trucks, buses and cars, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the northwest of the country, where Khan's party is in power, planned stops to stay overnight while the caravan heads towards the capital, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Speaking of a truck-container specially designed and adorned with a great portrait of Khan, the governor of the province, Sohail Afridi, expressed confidence in the movement's ability to resolve the political impasse upon reaching the capital.
Authorities have lifted blockades, using containers, to the entrance of Islamabad and into the city.
Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the federal government were in negotiations to postpone the march but did not reach agreement, with Gohar Khan, the party's president, saying that the negotiations were deadlocked after two rounds.
The Minister of the Interior, Mohsin Naqvi, blamed Afridi for the failure of the negotiations, warning that he would be held responsible for any loss of life during the planned march, asking for its postponement because of the Taliban attacks and accusing the ITP of sympathising with the militias.
Imran Khan is the main political rival of the current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and has been imprisoned since 2023 due to charges of corruption and other crimes, which he and his party consider politically motivated.
Despite his arrest, the former cricketer maintains a substantial support base, keeping him at the heart of Pakistan's political landscape.
In addition to Khan's release, protesters demand his transfer to a hospital and permission for his family to visit him, but authorities say he is in good health and receives family visits regularly, supporting that meetings with the former prisoner leader cannot be used for political purposes.
The march was originally scheduled for 27 September, but was postponed after the party leaders said that the authorities blocked important accesses to Islamabad.
Previous protests by Khan's supporters became violent, including one in 2024, when security officers and civilians were killed.
Imran Khan was dismissed through a motion of mistrust in parliament in April 2022, with Sharif returning to office after the election of February 2024, which Khan's party claims to have been fraudulent.
The government denies the charge.