ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province banned public gatherings of five or more people on Wednesday as authorities prepared to close key routes to Islamabad ahead of a planned march by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

The order runs through Oct. 5 and covers gatherings and processions in public places, on roads and in open spaces across Punjab, which lies between Khan’s political stronghold in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the capital. The march is planned for Sept. 27.

“A complete ban has been imposed on gatherings, processions or assemblies of five or more people in public places, on roads or in open spaces across Punjab,” a provincial Home Department spokesperson said in a statement.

The department said intelligence agencies had warned that armed groups were planning to target public gatherings. It cited threats to public safety as the reason for the order. The claims about planned attacks could not be independently verified.

The restrictions do not apply to weddings, funerals, burials, places of worship or officially permitted events. The order also bans carrying or displaying weapons in public and encouraging people to attend prohibited gatherings.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which governs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has called a march on Islamabad to demand his release. He has been jailed since 2023, and his party says the cases against him are politically motivated. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has warned the party against proceeding with the protest.

The provincial ban follows motorway police plans to close major routes from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa toward Islamabad and Punjab. Those include the main motorway from the provincial capital, Peshawar, and a highway crossing the Indus River near the provincial boundary. Authorities have not said when the roads will reopen.

“From Wednesday evening, September 23, the M-1 motorway will remain closed to all types of traffic in both directions between the Islamabad toll plaza and Chach Interchange,” the National Highways and Motorway Police said in an advisory. A separate Islamabad police advisory said the closure would begin at 11 p.m.

Chach Interchange is in Punjab’s Attock district, near the boundary with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Other announced restrictions affect routes from southern and northern parts of the northwestern province, including the M-14 and Hazara motorways, as well as the N-5 highway at Attock Khurd.

The motorway police advisory gave no reason for the closures, and the notices do not establish that every road between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country will be impassable. Islamabad police said the motorway linking the capital with Lahore would remain open. 

Motorway police advised travelers to check conditions before setting out through their helpline, 130.