Pakistan: Clashes as police seek ex-PM Imran Khan's arrest

Several people were injured on Wednesday amid clashes between Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Khan's supporters and police officials outside his Lahore residence. The situation unfolded as the officials came to arrest Khan a day earlier over his non-appearance in court.

The court had summoned Khan over accusations of selling state gifts during his office term.

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Police officials have been ordered by the Lahore High Court to postpone their attempts to arrest Khan until Thursday.

The former premier's followers hurled rocks and stones at the police and paramilitary personnel who used tear gas and sieged his residence starting on Tuesday.

The security later withdrew on Wednesday afternoon, putting a halt to the riots.

Supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party also clashed with police in several other cities of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, and Rawalpindi.

Early Wednesday morning, Khan also released a video saying that the officials have "no justification" to use tear gas.

"Water canons, teargas... they shelled inside the house where there were servants and women," Khan said.

Khan also tweeted that he had signed a "surety bond" that ensured that he would appear in court by March 18 but the police officials did not take it into consideration. He also alleged that the officials were using live ammunition.

The allegations were denied by the Punjab provincial government which said that more than 100 police officers were injured in the disputes with the PTI supporters in a statement on Wednesday.

Failure to appear in court

This was the second attempt by the officials to detain Khan, who failed to appear in court to defend charges against him.

He has been accused of selling state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while he held office from 2018 to 2022, and failing to declare the revenues,   before being ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Since November, Khan has avoided his court appearances, afterhe was shot and wounded in a protest, claiming that he is not able to travel between Lahore and Islamabad due to medical issues.

He has accused the current government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of plotting the cases against him.

Sharif's government, however, has denied these accusations.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, the country's information minister said in a statement on Tuesday that "instead of cooperating with law enforcement officials, Imran Khan is breaking the law, defying court orders and using his party workers... as human shields to evade arrest and stoke unrest."

aa/rc (ap, afp, Reuters)