Pakistani authorities have detained hundreds of members of Imran Khan’s party, police officials told AFP on Monday (October 12, 2026), as a protest movement in support of the jailed former Prime Minister appeared to falter.
The hugely popular former cricket star’s party said on Sunday (October 11) the Province’s Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had been arrested hours after the extraordinary constitutional measures were announced by Pakistan’s presidency.
The PTI-led provincial government would be “non-functional” until the security situation improves, the country’s law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said after emergency rule was announced. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed Afridi had been placed in custody but said he had not been “arrested”, without providing further details on the detention.
The federal government said the provincial administration had failed to tackle militancy in the province bordering Afghanistan, which has witnessed an increase in militant attacks in recent months, Reuters reported. The detentions followed the Central government’s imposition of emergency rule on Sunday (October 11) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial stronghold of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, after major protests demanding the former premier’s release. Because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said 278 PTI members had been detained in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the emergency declaration, two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. The government disbanded the PTI-led government under the emergency measures that it says were imposed due to deteriorating security in the border Province, which is also battling militant attacks.
Police officers stand guard in riot gear as a security measure following a protest call by supporters of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a day after Pakistan imposed a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and suspended the provincial government led by Khan’s party, in Peshawar on October 12, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Earlier reporting noted: Why Pakistan imposed emergency in Imran Khan’s party stronghold Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan has imposed a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , suspending the provincial government led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, with the federal government citing rising “Islamist militancy and a deteriorating law and order situation”.
Earlier reporting noted: The move comes amid escalating tensions between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the government ahead of a planned protest demanding his release. Earlier reporting noted: President Asif Ali Zardari declared the emergency on Sunday on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif , following a cabinet decision.
