More than 5,000 backers of imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan set off Sunday on a multiday march toward Islamabad, aiming to force his release after negotiations with the federal government broke down, according to the Associated Press.
The caravan departed from Lakki Marwat, a remote district in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, controls the provincial government. Demonstrators traveled in a convoy of trucks, buses and cars, with organizers arranging overnight stops as the group moves toward the capital.
The confrontation threatens to intensify Pakistan's already fragile political environment. The nuclear-armed nation of more than 240 million people is simultaneously contending with a sharp rise in militant violence, particularly in the northwest near the Afghan border, where the Pakistani Taliban has stepped up attacks in recent years.
Khan has been behind bars since 2023, convicted on corruption and other charges that he and his party insist are politically motivated. He remains the principal political rival of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Despite his imprisonment, Khan has preserved a large and devoted following, a fact that keeps him at the center of the country's volatile political scene.
Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a vocal Khan loyalist, is leading the march. Speaking from a specially built container truck decorated with a large portrait of Khan, Afridi expressed confidence that the movement could press its demands and carry the political standoff directly into the capital.
Marchers are seeking more than Khan's freedom. Organizers have also called for his transfer to a hospital for medical treatment and for allowing family members to visit him in prison. Those demands reflect longstanding complaints from Khan's party about his detention conditions, which PTI officials have described as punitive and deliberately isolating.
Negotiations between PTI and the federal government aimed at postponing the march ended without agreement. Gohar Khan, the party's chairman, said the talks remained deadlocked after two rounds of discussions, leaving the opposition with little choice but to proceed with the convoy.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi placed blame for the collapse of the talks on Afridi, warning that the provincial leader would be held accountable for any loss of life during the march. The statement signaled that the government is preparing to treat the demonstration as a potential security threat rather than a routine political protest.
Sharif's administration had urged organizers to postpone the march, pointing to an increase in militant attacks by the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest. The government also has accused PTI of sympathizing with the militant group, an allegation Khan's party rejects.
Authorities have positioned shipping containers and other barriers at the entrance to Islamabad and at points inside the city, an attempt to block or slow the convoy's arrival. Such tactics have been used in previous standoffs between Khan's movement and the government.
Islamabad has been the scene of repeated confrontations since Khan's removal from power in 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote. His arrest in 2023 triggered nationwide unrest, and PTI supporters have since clashed with security forces on multiple occasions, raising concerns about instability in a country that has experienced repeated bouts of military rule.
The march also comes against the backdrop of Pakistan's strained economy, which has required repeated international bailouts and remains vulnerable to political shocks. Prolonged unrest could complicate efforts to attract investment and stabilize the currency, analysts say, though the immediate focus remains on whether the convoy can reach the capital.
For Khan's supporters, the march represents both a show of strength and a test of the party's organizational capacity after years of pressure from the state. For the government, it poses a dilemma: allowing the protest could embolden the opposition, while a heavy-handed response risks inflaming public anger and drawing international criticism.
Khan's legal troubles include convictions in several cases, and he has been sentenced in at least one matter to a lengthy prison term. His party has challenged those rulings in court, arguing that the proceedings were rushed and conducted without fair process. The government maintains that the cases are matters for the judiciary, not politics.
The coming days will indicate whether the talks can be revived or whether the convoy's approach to Islamabad will produce another flashpoint in Pakistan's long-running political crisis. Much may depend on whether both sides can find a formula that addresses Khan's detention while preserving the government's authority.
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