PTI says Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Afridi detained — Dawn

In Pakistan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who was leading a protest march to Islamabad, had been detained. The statement came several hours after a state of emergency was declared and governor's rule was imposed in the province, Dawn reports.

PTI statements on the detention

Afridi's aide Shafi Jan, who accompanied him during the march, said that the official had been taken into custody. PTI National Assembly member Shahid Khattak also reported the arrest.

PTI condemned the alleged detention of Afridi and other party representatives, calling it politically motivated persecution and an attempt to weaken the province's elected government and democratic institutions. At the same time, there was no official confirmation of Afridi's detention.

According to the publication's sources, Afridi and PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief Junaid Akbar were under house arrest under Article 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order law.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Politicians' whereabouts unknown

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said in a video published by the party on X that he did not know where Afridi was or what condition he was in. He also said that Junaid Akbar had disappeared.

In a separate statement, PTI claimed that Afridi, provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati, and Junaid Akbar had been abducted. The party also said that a number of its lawmakers at the national and provincial levels had been abducted in previous weeks.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Geo News that some people had been detained because of the law-and-order situation, but did not specify whether Afridi was among them. According to him, people not wanted in any cases should be released, while those involved in criminal cases will be dealt with in accordance with the law.