Authorities fired tear gas on Tuesday in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad to scatter protesters demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, in demonstrations they said killed four paramilitary troops.
The interior ministry warned that a curfew could be imposed with troops called in to block the marchers, whom the prime minister blamed for the deaths, saying the troops were run over by vehicles in a convoy of protesters.
"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 interior ministry said four troops were killed, but did not say who was responsible.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the government's accusations.
Thousands of the jailed leader's supporters broke through security barriers on roads blocked with shipping containers as they responded to his call for a sit-in protest near parliament, where hundreds gathered at a nearby roundabout.
Calling for the government's resignation among other demands, the protesters ransacked vehicles and set a police kiosk on fire. Gunshots rang out in the area, a Reuters witness said, but it was unclear who was responsible.
The protesters also attacked and wounded journalists at two separate locations, people from two media houses told Reuters.
The government met Khan's aides to try to calm the protests, but the attempt did not succeed, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said.
On Monday, a police officer was killed and dozens wounded in clashes as the protest approached Islamabad. Khan had told marchers to stay put at the roundabout, a popular protest site, until their demands were met.
His party has called for a rollback of constitutional amendments it says the government made to handcuff the judiciary, which has questioned the legitimacy of several cases against the 72-year-old.
Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, and a key aide, Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of the PTI stronghold Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, led the march that wound its way into the capital early on Tuesday.
FINAL CALL
The protest march, which Khan has described as the "final call", is one of many his party had held to seek his release since he was jailed in August last year.
The party's most recent protest in Islamabad in October turned violent.
Voted out of power by parliament in 2022 after he fell out with Pakistan's powerful military, Khan faces charges ranging from corruption to instigation of violence, all of which he and his party deny.
The military, which plays an outsized role in politics, is the kingmaker in the South Asian nation of 241 million.
Candidates backed by Khan's party won the most seats in general elections in February, but a coalition cobbled together at the 11th hour and led by Sharif took power.
Khan and the PTI say the polls were rigged following a military-backed crackdown to keep him out of power. The army has denied charges of election manipulation.
Paramilitary troops and police in riot gear patrolled streets in Islamabad as authorities enforced a security lockdown over the last three days, barricading major roads with shipping containers.
Highways in the eastern part of Punjab province have also been blocked.Pakistan's benchmark share index (.KSE), opens new tab was down more than 2% in intraday trading on Tuesday.
