ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan's top aide Asad Umar stepped down from senior positions in the party on Wednesday while Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, another key leader, announced he was "parting ways" with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman as Khan's standoff with Pakistan's powerful military persists. 

Both leaders are the latest addition to a long list of Khan aides who have distanced themselves from the PTI chairman and resigned from the party after the violent countrywide protests of May 9 as Khan was detained on corruption charges. After angry protesters attacked military installations, set ablaze government buildings, and damaged public properties, the army vowed to try protesters under military laws. 

Hussain, a senior PTI leader who also served as the information minister during Khan's previous government, announced he was taking a "break" from politics. Umar, meanwhile, said he was stepping down as a member of the PTI's core committee and its secretary-general but would remain a member of the party.

 "I have resigned from my party positions. Whatever decision I took was my own," Umar told a room packed with reporters at the Islamabad Club. 

 He denounced the violence that took place on May 9, saying that those found guilty should be dealt with according to law. 

"Full action should be initiated against those involved [in the protests]," Umar said. "Thousands of workers are under arrest, and the majority among them are innocent, who should be released," he added. 

Umar lamented the prevalent political uncertainty in Pakistan, saying that the judiciary was divided and that its directives were not being implemented by the government. 

"People of Pakistan are major stakeholders and they are facing the worst inflation and unemployment. The life of a common man has become difficult. 

"Pakistan is in a dangerous situation today and it's the responsibility of the political leadership to steer the country out of it."

Meanwhile Khan, who has accused the military and government of colluding to keep him from getting elected once again, alleges his party's top leadership is being threatened to dissociate themselves from him. 

In a video message to his supporters on Wednesday, the former prime minister said he is ready to constitute a committee to hold talks with "powerful people" in the country—a veiled reference to the military—but vowed to fight till the end against oppression.