Pakistan Declares Emergency in PTI-Run Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — SkimNews
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- President Asif Ali Zardari declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Oct. 11 on the advice of PM Shehbaz Sharif, suspending the provincial government led by Imran Khan's PTI and installing a governor for an initial six-month term.
- The federal government cited the province's failure to tackle Islamist militancy and will deploy troops; PTI rejects the charge, saying Islamabad withheld needed funding and equipment.
- PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari called the action "more of a coup disguised as emergency" and warned of further bloodshed; even government mediator Maulana Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) condemned it as "an ambush on democracy."
- Security forces detained hundreds of PTI activists plus three of Khan's sisters ahead of a planned march on Islamabad demanding Khan's release, with tens of thousands of troops and container barricades deployed to block protesters.
- Islamabad also accuses Afghanistan of harboring cross-border militants and accuses PTI of sympathizing with the Taliban in Kabul — claims both PTI and the Taliban deny.
Why it matters: By stripping PTI of its only provincial government, the Sharif administration removes Khan's last institutional foothold and gives the military expanded powers in a militancy-prone border region — a step that risks reigniting the deadly protest cycle Khan's 2023 arrest triggered, while sidelining even the government's own mediator.
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