Pak cracks down on Imran supporters, hundreds arrested

Police officers throw stones at protesters in Islamabad on Wednesday. Pic/AP

With former Prime Minister Imran Khan in custody, Pakistani authorities on Thursday cracked down on his supporters, detaining hundreds in overnight raids and sending troops across the country to rein in the wave of violence that followed his arrest earlier this week. The turmoil echoed the unrest that followed the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Her supporters at the time, outraged by her killing, rampaged for days across Pakistan.

A motorcyclist passes through a truck burnt during clashes. Pic/AP

Clashes with police since Khan's dramatic arrest on Tuesday have killed at least 10 of his supporters and injured dozens. Seven of the deaths were reported in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, two in the eastern city of Lahore and one person was killed in the southwestern city of Quetta. More than 200 police officers were also injured.

Also read: Imran Khan Arrest: 8 killed, 290 injured in violent protests in Pakistan

Soldiers guard a barricaded road leading to a military area in Peshawar. Pic/AP

Police said on Thursday that nearly 1,600 of Khan supporters were arrested overnight on charges of damaging public property and attacking military installations, bringing the total of those detained since Tuesday to over 2,300. The arrests took place mainly in eastern Punjab province, Islamabad and northwestern Pakistan, but also elsewhere in the country.

Attack on Chinese nationals averted at Karachi shipyard

A suicide bomber was killed and an attack on the Chinese nationals working in a shipyard in the port city of Pakistan's Karachi was foiled by security forces. The incident happened on Wednesday when security officials discovered that a suspect was planning to carry out a suicide attack on the Chinese nationals at the shipyard. "He was shot dead after security was increased following a tipoff that a banned outfit had planned an attack," Senior Superintendent of Police, Hasan Sardar said.

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