ISLAMABAD: After Pakistan police stormed parliament’s premises to arrest several opposition lawmakers on terrorism charges, analysts say a standoff between former prime minister Imran Khan’s party and the country’s powerful military threatens to reduce politics to a clash between the two sides.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party staged a rare demonstration in the capital Islamabad this week, the largest since the former cricketer was jailed last year.
Shortly after the rally, police cut power to the parliament compound and plainclothes officers forced their way in, where PTI lawmakers were taking refuge to avoid possible arrest.
“It is increasingly becoming a clash between the opposition and the military,” political analyst Zahid Hussain told AFP.
“The way lawmakers were arrested will further escalate the politics of confrontation... it will further polarize the country,” he added.
“This approach is creating a dangerously unstable situation.”
PTI has been sparring with the military since Khan was deposed two years ago.
The confrontation come to a head after the former cricket star’s first arrest on corruption charges in May 2023.
His supporters waged days of sometimes violent protests and attacked military installations, sparking a sweeping crackdown on the PTI led by the army — Pakistan’s most powerful institution.
But the clampdown failed to diminish Khan’s popularity and candidates backed by the former premier won the most seats in 2024 polls — marred by allegations of widespread rigging.
A coalition government was cobbled together at the eleventh hour to stop PTI from returning to power, with the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) taking control of the nation of over 240 million people.
The standoff has birthed an unprecedented backlash against the military, particularly among Pakistan’s social media-savvy youth who overwhelmingly support Khan.
“This is a particularly nasty confrontation in the sense that Khan has been unusually withering and personal in his criticism of the army,” said Michael Kugelman, a Pakistan specialist at the US-based Wilson Center.
Khan rose to power in 2018 with military support but was removed in 2022 after a fallout with the generals.
He was banned from the February elections, and while three of his convictions have been partially overturned on appeal, remains in prison on other charges.
The military “is unable to dissipate the anger the anxiety among people and reduce support for Khan,” military analyst and author Ayesha Siddiqa told AFP.
“There is nothing to indicate the situation will improve.”
Analysts say the military — which has ruled the nation for nearly half its history and pulls the strings even when not governing — barred several social media platforms to restrict pro-Khan messaging ahead of the elections.
Social media platform X has been banned since the polls when it was used to air allegations of rigging, and Internet disruptions have been ongoing for the past month.
Authorities in July also raided PTI’s headquarters in Islamabad over alleged “anti-state digital campaigns.” The military said it is battling so-called “digital terrorism.”
Kugelman said that while the military has imprisoned Khan and his allies — tactics it has employed successfully against past opponents — widespread Internet availability and soaring social media usage in Pakistan means “it’s not as easy for the army as it used to be.”
There are online “bastions of dissent,” where Khan’s supporters continue their standoff with the military.
An ongoing economic crisis has sent prices soaring and the government running to the International Monetary Fund for assistance, while militant groups have made a resurgence, meaning Pakistan is stretched in several directions.
“One of the most practical consequences of this ongoing confrontation is that other policy challenges, urgent policy challenges are being overlooked,” Kugelman said.
However, analysts say Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lacks the capacity to initiate dialogue with Khan, who has accused the coalition government of operating with a stolen mandate.
“It’s a political existential issue,” political analyst Rasul Baksh Rais told AFP.
“The government’s political survival lies in its current actions, while the PTI’s survival depends on its resistance.”
Military-opposition standoff threatens Pakistan’s stability
https://arab.news/gh5hx
Military-opposition standoff threatens Pakistan’s stability
- Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been sparring with the military since Khan was deposed two years ago
- The confrontation come to a head after the former cricket star’s first arrest on graft charges in May 2023
Pakistan rules out talks with Afghanistan, says over 330 Afghan fighters killed in clashes
- Clashes between the neighbors erupted after Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory last weekend
- US voices support for Pakistan, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says they aim to make Pakistan safe
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has ruled out any talks with Afghanistan until an end to “terrorism” emanating from the Afghan soil, officials said on Friday, following the killing of more than 330 Afghan fighters in cross-border clashes this week.
The latest clashes between the neighbors erupted after Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory last weekend triggered Afghan retaliatory attacks along the border on Thursday, escalating long‑simmering tensions over Pakistan’s claim that Afghanistan shelters Pakistani Taliban militants. Afghanistan denies this and argues Pakistan is deflecting blame for its own security failures.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said they had killed 331 Afghan fighters, destroyed over 100 posts and targeted 37 military locations across Afghanistan. Afghan officials have said that more than 50 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and several Pakistan posts have been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Meanwhile, Mosharraf Zaidi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, ruled out any talks with Afghanistan until Kabul addresses the issue as the United States (US) expressed his support for what it called Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” against attacks from Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.
“There won’t be any talks, there is nothing to talk about... Terrorism from Afghanistan has to end,” Zaidi told Pakistani state media, saying Islamabad would continue to target militant havens inside Afghanistan.
“Pakistan’s responsibility is to protect its citizens. If we know that there is a terrorist in point A and we know that there is a terrorist enabler at point A, we will find a weapon to land at point A and eliminate the threat.”
Zaidi said he didn’t expect Pakistan to deviate from this position and that the government had clearly conveyed what it was doing.
“We have clearly articulated what we are doing and what we plan on continuing to do and what it will take for us to stop doing what we are doing,” Zaidi said.
“And we will expect that both the international community and the regime in question, the Afghan Taliban, will come to their senses and will help reduce instability and disorder in this region.”
Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of Washington, while the US considers the Afghan Taliban to be a “terrorist” group.
“The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks from the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group,” Reuters quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying. US diplomat Allison Hooker said on X she spoke on Friday with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch.
The State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of the escalation in tensions and “outbreak of fighting between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban,” adding the US was “saddened by the loss of life.”
“The Taliban have consistently failed to uphold their counterterrorism commitments,” the State Department said, adding that “terrorist groups use Afghanistan as a launching pad for their heinous attacks.”
Meanwhile, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid called for talks to resolve the crisis.
“We have always emphasized peaceful resolution, and now too we want the issue to be resolved through dialogue,” he said on Friday afternoon.
Asked what Pakistan desired, Information Minister Tarar said: “Neutralizing the threat and ensuring that Pakistan is safe.”
“Because for us, we’ve been good neighbors, we’ve been very friendly neighbors, we’ve been very, very generous neighbors. Our generosity, unfortunately, has often been seen as our weakness,” he told state media.
“So the objective, aim is to neutralize the threat and make Pakistan safe.”
To a question about a ceasefire, Tarar said it was “too early” to comment on that as it was an evolving situation.
