Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has been heavily barricaded with at least 20,000 shipping containers, many welded together and equipped with metal spikes facing outward, ahead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s September 27 march seeking the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Reports indicate that authorities are preparing extensively for possible unrest, including making additional hospital capacity available and ensuring adequate blood supplies. The march has received backing from Jamaat-e-Islami and farmers’ groups.
Hospitals in Islamabad have been instructed to prepare for a possible “humanitarian crisis” and “mass casualty incident”. Non-essential surgeries are being deferred, while stable patients are being discharged to free up beds in case large numbers of injured people arrive. According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, hospitals in the capital have been directed to keep at least 100 blood bags in reserve and ensure that ambulances and their drivers remain operational and ready to respond to emergencies.
More than 20,000 police personnel are being deployed from Punjab and Sindh to Islamabad ahead of the September 27 protest. The Punjab government has also requested the deployment of the federal paramilitary Pakistan Rangers in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Mianwali, BBC Urdu reported on Wednesday.
The security mobilisation comes as Jamaat-e-Islami has separately begun protests against rising fuel prices while extending support to the PTI march. Farmers have also announced plans to head towards the capital alongside Imran Khan’s supporters. At least two organisations, Kissan Ittehad Pakistan and the PTI’s peasants’ wing, are preparing to hold protests.
According to Al Jazeera Pakistan correspondent Kamal Hyder, many people in Pakistan believe the government has “panicked” because it is uncertain about the size of the crowds that could converge on Islamabad.
The capital is therefore preparing for several protest marches in the coming days. Highlighting the scale of the preparations, Dawn wrote in a September 22 editorial that the pace at which containers were being deployed, trenches dug and additional security forces requested suggested that the government was preparing for something resembling an invasion rather than a political gathering.
Commuters ride past shipping containers placed around Islamabad’s Red Zone. (AFP Image)
To prevent PTI supporters from entering Islamabad, the establishment led by Army Chief Asim Munir has installed long rows of containers, a tactic repeatedly used to block PTI marches in the past. Protesters have previously managed to climb over the barriers, push them aside or remove them by force. This time, however, authorities are welding the containers together and filling them with sand and gravel, making them significantly more difficult to move. The extensive preparations are being made for a protest that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has dismissed as PTI “drama”.
The PTI’s September 27 march is aimed at securing Imran Khan’s release from prison. Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023 and is currently serving a 14-year sentence in the Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case, among more than 100 cases filed against him since his removal from office in 2022.
Along with Khan’s release, the PTI has raised concerns about constitutional rights and the rule of law in Pakistan. It has alleged that Asim Munir has accumulated unprecedented authority, including control over all three branches of the armed forces and lifetime legal immunity.
The civilian government has said it will not permit protesters to block roads or interfere with normal life in the capital. The Islamabad High Court has also ruled that political parties do not have a legal right to occupy roads, highways or other public spaces. The PTI, however, has maintained that the march will proceed, claiming that “lakhs of its workers are ready”, even as authorities prepare for the protest.
PAKISTAN HOSPITALS PREPARE FOR A CASUALTY SURGE
One of the clearest signs of the authorities’ preparations has emerged from hospitals in Islamabad. US-based investigative outlet Drop Site News reported that medical facilities in the capital had been placed on an emergency footing.
Blood banks have been instructed to retain reserves of at least 100 bags, while ambulances and their drivers are expected to remain available. Hospitals have also been told to maintain stocks of medicines, medical equipment and oxygen, while emergency departments have been asked to keep beds available.
A separate circular cited by Dawn directed hospital officials to prepare for a possible “mass casualty situation or surge” and ensure that emergency and ambulance routes remain accessible. Hospitals across the federal capital have been placed on high alert through September 30.
Citing documents and people familiar with the preparations, Drop Site News reported that planned elective surgeries were being postponed indefinitely and surgical departments were being reorganised to accommodate a possible influx of casualties. Leave for medical, nursing, paramedical and support personnel has reportedly been suspended, while staff already on leave have been recalled. Patients who were stable or recovering were also being discharged.
According to Drop Site News, the documents instructed hospitals to prepare for a potential “humanitarian crisis” and “mass casualty incident”.
ISLAMABAD WALLED OFF WITH CONTAINERS; NAILS ARE A NEW ADDITION
The extensive roadblocks in Islamabad and on highways leading into the capital are another visible sign of the authorities’ preparations.
Shipping containers have been placed at strategic locations in Islamabad’s Red Zone and along the highway connecting the capital with Attock in the west. Attock, located around 95 km from Islamabad in Punjab, is an important gateway between the capital region and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI is in power and from where a major part of the September 27 march is expected to originate.
Dawn reported on Tuesday that more than 2,000 containers had already been positioned at various locations across Islamabad. Police are anticipating a crowd of between 20,000 and 25,000 protesters and have requested PKR 827 million for container rentals, accommodation, transport and riot-control equipment, including tear-gas shells and rubber bullets.
Geo News reported that containers were being welded together at multiple locations during the night. Punjab is expected to send around 19,000 police personnel to the capital, while Sindh is deploying approximately 1,950 officers as Islamabad strengthens its existing security arrangements.
A Dunya News report from the ground said D-Chowk had been completely sealed, with containers arranged in two layers and welded together to prevent protesters from easily removing them. NADRA Chowk was also closed, while containers were installed around Serena Chowk, Marriott Chowk, Zero Point, Margalla Road, Srinagar Highway and roads connecting Islamabad with Rawalpindi.
Haider Majeed, a lawyer and former legal adviser to Imran Khan, claimed on X that authorities had prepared “special containers” with nails attached to their outer surfaces “so that the containers cannot be pushed to the side even with force”.
The welded barricades spanning parts of Islamabad prompted some people to describe them as “Great Wall of China 2.0”, while another referred to the fortified barriers as “The newly established Islamabad Port”.
The preparations follow a broader crackdown on PTI leaders and members of Imran Khan’s family.
IMRAN KHAN'S FAMILY, PTI LEADERS DETAINED
All three of Imran Khan’s sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan — were detained last week under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law and moved to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail for 30 days. Their detentions came ahead of the planned protest. BBC Urdu reported that Aleema Khan’s sons were also briefly detained before being released.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a PTI stronghold, provincial minister Fazal Shakoor Khan was intercepted near a toll plaza on Monday by armed men wearing black uniforms and plain clothes. His vehicle’s tyres were reportedly shot at, after which the minister was taken to an undisclosed location. The provincial PTI government described the incident as an abduction.
Geo News reported on Tuesday that six PTI lawmakers detained in Islamabad had been transferred to Jhelum Jail under the MPO. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar, meanwhile, claimed that around 1,500 party supporters had been detained across Pakistan.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, an aide to Asim Munir, warned the PTI against going ahead with the march. He said the government would take measures “once and for all” to prevent prolonged shutdowns caused by demonstrations.
September 27 will therefore be a test of the PTI’s ability to mobilise supporters and bring them into Islamabad, something the party has repeatedly said it can do. It will also test how far the establishment is prepared to go to keep PTI leaders and supporters away from the centre of the capital. Whether the government implements the “once and for all” measures promised by Naqvi remains to be seen.
