Imran Khan's party begins long march after talks with Pak govt fail

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan's party on Sunday began its long march towards Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the failure of negotiations with the government. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi set off from Lakki Marwat’s Gandi Chowk, saying he would announce his next course of action on Thursday, October 8, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's convoy reaches Khairabad. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar Khan was accompanying Afridi, the party said.\
More than 5,000 were reported to have begun the rally on Sunday. The march, planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed until October 4 to allow talks between the government and the PTI leadership to take place. Imran Khan has been behind bars since August 2023 following a series of convictions that his party calls politically motivated.
The government has been preparing for weeks for the arrival of PTI demonstrators in Islamabad. It has erected barriers using shipping containers to block main access routes to the capital. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed earlier on Sunday that the talks between the two sides had failed.  He accused Afridi of “sabotaging” the negotiations, and added that the government would not allow the PTI to “create a disturbance”. He also cited an Islamabad High Court order from September 14, ruling that no political party or its leadership has the “lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad”.
Concerns about the 73-year-old Khan’s health, in particular the condition of his right eye that has required months of specialist treatment, have prompted the PTI’s campaign for his release. The party has also called for the release of Khan’s three sisters, whose arrests last month further heightened tensions.