ISLAMABAD: Pakistani protesters demanding the release of ex-prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday killed four members of the nation's security forces, the government said, as the crowds defied police and closed in on the capital's centre. Convoys of pro-Khan demonstrators have been marching on Islamabad since Sunday, hauling aside roadblocks and skirmishing with police and paramilitary forces firing volleys of rubber bullets and tear gas.
Despite a ban on public gatherings, journalists saw more than ten thousand protesters in the city centre on Tuesday afternoon. Some were armed with sticks and slingshots, just 1.6 kilometres away from a square in the government enclave they aim to occupy.
The government said rioters killed four members of a state paramilitary force, running them over with a vehicle on a city highway leading to the government sector. One police officer was also reported killed in unrest on Monday. "These disruptive elements do not seek revolution but bloodshed," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement. "This is not a peaceful protest, it is extremism." — AFP
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