Pakistan blocks roads and deploys barriers ahead of PTI march for Imran Khan
Pakistan has closed major highways into Islamabad and erected container barriers ahead of a planned protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. The measures were in place on Thursday as authorities prepared for a march scheduled for Sunday, September 27. Police and local reports said the operation was aimed at limiting access to the capital before the demonstration.
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According to a police notification, the motorway linking Islamabad with Peshawar was closed to all traffic until further notice. Other routes shut included the highway toward Dera Ismail Khan, the Hazara motorway and the Grand Trunk Road at Attock, all of which connect Islamabad with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The motorway from Lahore remained open, while inside the capital workers welded shipping containers together and filled them with gravel and sand so they could not be moved aside.
Authorities also told several schools and colleges to close so police brought in from Punjab and Sindh could be housed there. Local media reports cited police expectations that the march could draw between 20,000 and 25,000 people. The scale of the preparations suggests officials are treating the protest as a significant internal security challenge rather than a routine political gathering.
The crackdown comes at a sensitive moment in Pakistan's political landscape, where Imran Khan remains the country's most prominent opposition figure despite being in prison since August 2023. His party has framed the march as a demand for his release, while the government has moved to restrict movement into the capital. The response also highlights the continuing tension between the authorities and PTI, which has remained a central force in national politics even after Khan's detention.
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The measures taken in Islamabad are notable because they go beyond the response seen for other opposition activity this month. Another party, Jamaat-e-Islami, had also planned a march on the capital over rising fuel prices, but it postponed its protest after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif telephoned its leader, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. By contrast, PTI has faced road closures, barriers and detentions on a larger scale, underlining the government's concern about the size and political impact of the planned march.
The supporting material also points to a wider pattern of preventive action. Khan's three sisters were detained in Lahore, and at least six PTI legislators in Islamabad were also detained under a 1960 public order law that allows preventive detention without charge. PTI says the number of arrests is higher, and it says one lawmaker taken from the parliament lodges has not been traced since.
These steps indicate that the authorities are seeking to disrupt organisation before the march can gather momentum. The protest is taking place against a backdrop of reduced street mobilisation by PTI, which by its own account has not mounted a major demonstration outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since November 2024. Even so, the planned march has prompted a strong state response, suggesting officials see it as a potential test of control in the capital.
The closure of key transport routes also has implications for daily movement, commerce and access to Islamabad in the days before the rally. What remains unclear is how many protesters will reach the capital, whether the closures will stay in place beyond the immediate lead-up to Sunday, and whether further detentions will follow. It is also not yet clear how PTI will respond if access to Islamabad remains restricted.
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The situation will be watched for any change in the government's posture, the scale of the march and whether the planned protest proceeds despite the barriers.
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