• Six people were killed as supporters of imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces in Islamabad on Tuesday.
• Thousands of security personnel have been deployed to central Islamabad to control the protests.
• More than 4,000 Khan supporters have been arrested, with the government also suspending mobile and internet services, blocking major travel routes and banning rallies to suppress the unrest.

Supporters seeking the release of imprisoned Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through a ring of shipping containers blocking off the capital on Tuesday, and battled security forces despite a government threat to respond with gunfire. Six people have died in the violence.

Thousands of security forces have poured into central Islamabad in an attempt to quell protests in support of Khan that have gripped the capital and its surrounding areas since Sunday. The popular politician has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases that his party says are politically motivated.

Authorities say only courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a graft case, in August 2023.

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On Tuesday, Pakistan’s army took control of D-Chowk, a large square in downtown Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings and is where visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is staying. Paramilitary rangers and police were also out in force and some fired warning shots into the air.

Still, Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who is leading the protests, made slow progress toward the square in a heavily guarded convoy, surrounded by well-wishers.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi threatened that security forces would respond with live fire if protesters fired weapons at them.

“We have now allowed police to take any decision according to the situation,” Naqvi said later while visiting the square.

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Protester Shahzor Ali said people were on the streets because Khan had called for them to be there. “We will stay here until Khan is among us. He will decide what to do next,” Ali said.

“If they again fire bullets, the bullet will be responded with the bullet,” he said.

Protester Fareeda Bibi, who is not related to Khan’s wife, said people have suffered greatly for the last two years.

“We have really suffered for the last two years, whether it is economically, politically or socially. We have been ruined. I have not seen such a Pakistan in my life,” she said.

Paramilitary soldiers fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan during clashes in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Irtisham Ahmed)

Police so far have used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds. The dead include four members of the security services and one civilian who were killed when a vehicle rammed them on a street overnight into Tuesday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack, saying an “anarchist group” was deliberately targeting law enforcement personnel. There was no claim of responsibility for the ramming. A police officer died separately.

Scores of people have also been injured, including journalists who were attacked by demonstrators. Dozens of Khan supporters beat a videographer covering the protest for The Associated Press and took his camera. He sustained head injuries and was treated in a hospital.

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Pakistani media have mostly stopped filming and photographing the rally, instead focusing on the security measures and the city’s deserted streets.

By Tuesday afternoon, fresh waves of protesters made their way unopposed to their final destination in the Red Zone. Most demonstrators had the flag of Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, around their shoulders or wore its tricolors on accessories.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is pictured at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Oct. 9, 2019, in Beijing, China.  (Parker Song-Pool/Getty Images)

Naqvi said Khan’s party rejected a government offer to rally on the outskirts of the city.

Information Minister Atta Tarar warned there would be a severe government reaction to the violence.

He said the government did not want Bushra Bibi to achieve her goal of freeing Khan. “She wants bodies falling to the ground. She wants bloodshed,” he said.

In a bid to foil the unrest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country and messaging platforms were also experiencing severe disruption in the capital.

Khan’s party relies heavily on social media to demand Khan’s release and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. The X platform, which is banned in Pakistan, is no longer accessible, even with a VPN.

On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible because of shipping containers blocking the roads. All educational institutions remain closed.

A court in Chittagong denied bail to the man charged with sedition as India cautioned about justice for minorities.

Police in Bangladesh have used tear gas against Hindus protesting against the arrest of a religious leader as neighbouring India called for ensuring the safety of Hindus and minorities in the Muslim-majority nation.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, also known as Krishna Das Prabhu, was arrested at Dhaka airport on Monday on charges including sedition.

A court in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday denied bail to the priest associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), widely known as the Hare Krishna movement.

According to the city’s police, more than 2,000 supporters surrounded the van and blocked its path for some time when Das was being escorted back to prison from court.

The demonstrators threw bricks at the police and officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, said Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Hasib Aziz, who added no one was seriously hurt.

Das’s arrest set off protests by his supporters in both Chittagong, the country’s second-largest city, and the capital, Dhaka.

India noted the arrest and denial of bail with “deep concern”. The neighbouring Hindu-majority country’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the incident follows attacks on Hindus and other minorities, along with places of worship, by “extremist elements in Bangladesh”.

It said the perpetrators of those incidents remain at large while Bangladeshi authorities pressed charges against “a religious leader presenting legitimate demands through peaceful gatherings”.

Sedition charges were filed against Das in October after he led a large rally in Chittagong, during which it is accused he disrespected Bangladesh’s national flag.

The rally was aimed at demanding justice for Hindus facing targeted attacks in Bangladesh and seeking better protections for minorities.

The interim government, which took over in the aftermath of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s flight from the country on August 5 amid a mass uprising against her rule earlier this year, has said the threat to Hindus is being exaggerated and they are working on the issue.

While there was large-scale looting and the ransacking of national monuments and government buildings in the wake of Hasina’s overthrow, student leaders who spearheaded the protests had also asked supporters to guard Hindu temples and churches.

More than 90 percent of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim, with Hindus – many of who support Hasina’s Awami League party – making up almost all of the rest.

“We urge Bangladesh authorities to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression,” the Indian ministry said.