ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday reached a public square near Pakistan’s parliament that is a popular protest site, vowing to hold a “do or die” sit-in in the federal capital of Islamabad. 

Topping the demands of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is the release of all its leaders, including Khan, who has been jailed on a series of charges since August 2023. Bushra Khan, the ex-premier’s wife who is leading the protests, said on Monday the ‘do or die’ protest at D-Chowk would continue until Khan was freed. The historic square is in the city’s Red Zone, home to key government buildings including the National Assembly, Supreme Court and Prime Minister’s Office.

PTI supporters broke through barricades and clashed with police as they marched on the capital late on Monday evening, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi saying three paramilitary troops and one policeman had been killed in clashes. The PTI said in a statement two of its supporters were confirmed dead in clashes, while over 30 were wounded. 

“These are attempts to derail the country and to spread violence and anarchy but they [PTI] won’t succeed,” Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “Do not force us to go against you to the last degree. There is still time to retreat from here. Otherwise, when the patience of the state runs out, the consequences are disastrous.”

As thousands of rally goers left for Islamabad on Sunday in protest caravans, authorities shut down major highways leading to the capital and used shipping containers to block major roads and streets inside the city. Mobile Internet links and apps like WhatsApp have been down since the weekend and schools have been closed for several days in the capital and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi. Last week, the district administration also banned public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, and on Monday, the interior ministry invoked Article 245, calling in the army to maintain law and order. 

A round of the federal capital by Arab News on Tuesday showed that all entry and exit points of the city had been sealed again with shipping containers shortly after protesters removed them to enter the city. The Srinagar Highway, the main artery connecting the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, was littered with stones that protesters had reportedly hurled at security personnel on their way to D-Chowk. 

Local residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad could be seen distributing food and water among protesters on the Srinagar Highway while helicopters hovered above. 

Protest leader Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, urged protesters to camp at D-Chowk and not advance further into the Red Zone. 

“D-Chowk means D-Chowk,” the chief minister told supporters from atop a truck en route to the public square. “Beyond that, as long as Imran Khan’s orders, Imran Khan’s instructions are not given, we will not go beyond that area and we will respect his instructions.”

The party’s secretary information Sheikh Waqas Akram also urged supporters to maintain peace.

“Be peaceful, Khan has always taught you to be peaceful,” he said on X, accusing the government of trying to cause “chaos and mischief.” 

“You have to be vigilant.”

“It is not a peaceful protest. It is extremism,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement, condemning the bloodshed as being aimed at achieving “evil political designs.”

The PTI’s march has coincided with a visit to Islamabad by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to discuss investment deals. The government has accused the PTI of trying to sabotage the foreign visit in a bid to destabilize its economic recovery efforts, a charge the party rejects.