Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as they were proceeding towards Islamabad to join the party's planned November 2 'lockdown' of the Pakistani capital seeking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation over alleged corruption.
The protesters were attempting to remove barricades using cranes in Swabi, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when law enforcement personnel resorted to tear gas shelling and firing rubber bullets to force them to retreat, DawnNews reported. The area is an hour and a half's drive away from Islamabad.
The barricades were placed on both sides of the Motorway while heavy contingents of policemen and Frontier Constabulary personnel were present on the roads. According to Dunya News, PTI workers turned violent and set ablaze eight police vehicles and around ten motorcycles at Haroon Bridge in Swabi while clearing huge containers placed as barricades by police to stop their entry into Islamabad.