ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday imposed emergency rule in the opposition-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, his office said, amid heightened political tensions and a surge in militancy in the volatile region.

The move, invoked under Articles 232 and 234 of Pakistan’s constitution dealing with security, grants the federal government sweeping administrative powers over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where thousands of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan have been marching to demand his release.

The development comes amid heightened tensions between the government and jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, following the failure of their talks to resolve political issues and disagreements over counterterrorism policy in KP.

PM Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday presided over a key meeting of his cabinet to review the law-and-order situation in KP and the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism,” forwarding his advice to the president to impose emergency in the province.

“President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the advice submitted by the Prime Minister regarding the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the presidency said on Sunday.

“The President signed the summary following the Federal Cabinet’s decision, the Prime Minister’s advice, reports from relevant institutions regarding the law-and-order situation, and the failure of negotiations with government delegations.”

Zulfiqar Bukhari, a senior PTI member, criticized the central government for the move.

“The only legitimately elected government of Pakistan has been overthrown,” he told Arab News, when asked about their response to the emergency.

In his statement on Sunday, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, a state representative in the province, urged the public to refrain from any form of violation of law, incitement, or rioting.

“Strict action in accordance with the law will be taken against those who disrupt law and order and take the law into their own hands,” he warned.

PTI on Oct. 4 launched a long march toward Islamabad seeking to secure Khan’s release. The party opposes large-scale military operations in KP which it says risk civilian casualties and displacement, arguing that counterterrorism measures should be developed in consultation with provincial representatives.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is currently leading the protest march through the province, demanding the release of Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 until his removal in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April 2022. Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023. He is serving a sentence in a corruption case that he says is politically motivated, an allegation the government rejects.

His detention has fueled repeated confrontations between his party and the federal authorities, including a major protest in Islamabad in November 2024 that ended in clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Afridi earlier asked PTI supporters to start gathering in KP’s Swabi district on Sunday, where he said he would announce the movement’s next course of action on October 13. Earlier, he said the protest march would advance to Islamabad on October 14.