Pakistani police began sealing major highways leading into Islamabad on Wednesday, aiming to stop supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan from entering the capital ahead of a planned march on 27 September.
The closures, announced by Islamabad police, cover the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, the Islamabad-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway and the Grand Trunk Road, with authorities advising residents to adjust their travel plans accordingly, reports Al Jazeera.
The move comes as Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), prepares to lead supporters from Karachi and Lahore towards the capital in a bid to secure his release from prison, where he has been held since August 2023.
According to the Dawn newspaper, the road closures are indefinite and specifically intended to prevent PTI supporters converging on Islamabad.
Khan has faced a string of convictions since his imprisonment, which his party maintains are politically motivated; all but one of these rulings have since been suspended or overturned on appeal.
Campaigners have also voiced growing concern over his health, particularly an eye condition that has required specialist treatment for several months, adding urgency to calls for his release.
The two planned marches are due to depart from Karachi, roughly 1,150 kilometres to the southwest of Islamabad, and Lahore, about 270 kilometres to the southeast, converging on the capital later this week.
To prevent the demonstrations reaching Islamabad, authorities have deployed around 2,000 shipping containers across the city and at Attock Bridge, a key crossing point from the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported.
Additional containers and sandbags have been stationed at Haroon Bridge, another crossing linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Punjab province, while nearly 30,000 security personnel have reportedly been sent to the Attock district alone.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Islamabad, correspondent Kamal Hyder said officials had urged PTI “to reconsider its plans.”
He noted, however, that the party insists peaceful protest is a constitutional right and argues that demonstrating for Khan’s release is consistent with upholding the constitution.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued a warning to PTI on Monday, cautioning that such demonstrations “can never achieve anything through such drama.”
He added that there remained time for the party to abandon its plans, suggesting the situation could still be avoided if PTI reconsidered.
Authorities have also moved against Khan’s family in recent days.
On Sunday, police arrested his sister Aleema Khan at her home in Lahore under a public order law, along with two other sisters, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, and several additional relatives.
Meanwhile, a separate demonstration by another opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has taken a different turn.
The party launched its own march from Karachi towards Islamabad on Sunday, protesting against high fuel prices.
Party leader Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman had threatened that unless the government scrapped a levy exceeding 100 rupees (about $0.36) per litre on petroleum, the demonstration could escalate into a wider campaign against the government, Dawn reported.
However, after arriving in Multan, Punjab, on Monday night, Rehman announced on Tuesday that the march would be postponed at the request of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pending a meeting between the two leaders.
The twin developments underscore mounting political pressure on Sharif’s government, which is simultaneously managing opposition anger over Khan’s continued detention and public discontent over fuel costs, as security forces brace for a tense week ahead in the capital.
