Imran Khan's supporters converge on Lahore's Liberty Chowk to launch protest march for fresh polls
Lahore/Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan was tense on Friday as hundreds of supporters of Imran Khan's party gathered in Lahore as the former prime minister was all set to launch his protest march towards Islamabad to force the government to announce a date for early general elections.
Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) riding on their motorcycles and carrying party flags have assembled at the famous Liberty Chowk from where Khan would proceed towards the capital through the historic GT Road.
Khan, 70, plans to arrive in Islamabad on November 4 and has sought formal permission from the government to allow his party to hold a protest rally. His party has billed the protest as a Haqiqi Azadi March' or a protest for actual freedom of the country.
It is not clear if he would go back after the rally or transform it into a sit-in on the pattern of his 2014 protest when a 126-day sit-in was staged by his followers in front of the parliament building.
The organisers had announced to start the march at 11 am but it was delayed and it was not clear when exactly it would begin.
The coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has made elaborate security arrangements to maintain peace while warning the PTI that any effort to create a law and order situation would be dealt with an "iron hand", Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters in Islamabad.
He warned that strict action will be taken if they attempt to break the law and create a law and order situation in the capital, he said, adding that the Supreme Court's orders regarding the protest were clear. If protesters abide by the law, we will facilitate them, he said.
In response, PTI secretary general Asad Umar told the media in Lahore that the protest would be peaceful and from now on all decisions will be taken by the people . He said that the party decided to dedicate the march to slain journalist Arshad Sharif.
The country was grappling with different versions about the killing of journalist Sharif in Kenya and indirect allegations against the armed forces.
Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who was with Umar at the presser, urged the public to take part in the protest. "You should take part in this march even if you do not belong to the PTI. The nation must reject decisions taken behind closed doors," he said.
The government rejected the march and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the nation had refused to be subservient to a "foreign-funded" instigator and had rejected the "bloody march".
As the PTI planned protest was about to begin, the stocks fell by over 200 points during early trade and the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 228.54 points, or 0.55 per cent, to reach 41,374.32 points by the middy.
Earlier, Khan in a video message said that the protest was not for personal or political interests but to attain actual freedom for the country . Khan has been demanding early elections and threatening a protest march towards Islamabad to force his demands if the government failed to give a date for elections.
The term of the National Assembly will end in August 2023 and fresh elections should be held within 60 days.
Khan, who was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, has talked about a 'threat letter' from the US and claimed that it was part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy. The US has bluntly rejected the allegations.
According to officials, the interior ministry has already decided to deploy around 30,000 police, rangers, and para-military troops in Islamabad and not allow protesters to enter the red-zone area near the parliament building.
The President's House, Prime Minister's House, ministers' offices, parliament, and other important buildings, including foreign embassies, are located in the red-zone area.
The march's commencement date was announced on Tuesday by Khan. We will gather at Liberty Chowk at 11am on Friday, and set off for Islamabad, he had said.
We will stay peaceful. If any disruption comes, it would be from the other side, not ours. We are aiming for a soft revolution. We are not going to Islamabad to create any mischief, Khan assured, adding that despite all his peaceful intentions he was ready for arrest as well.
چیئرمین عمران خان کا کنٹینر لاہور لبرٹی چوک پہنچ گیا- #حقیقی_آزادی_لانگ_مارچ pic.twitter.com/wpLfW9ew05
— PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (@PTIKPOfficial) October 28, 2022
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
