Pakistan's president declares state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province run by Imran Khan's party

The president of Pakistan has declared a state of emergency in the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The region had been run by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of jailed former prime ⁠minister Imran Khan.

But Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, said the province's local government would be suspended after allegations it had failed to tackle Islamist militancy in the area.

A new government-approved governor and advisory council has now stepped in to take charge, with troops also deployed to the region, which borders Afghanistan and has been affected by several militant attacks in recent months.

The government said the arrangement would be in place for six months initially.

Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi justified the measures claiming: "The situation is so grave that you wouldn't see any residents coming out of their houses after evening in some of the ​districts."

But Mr Khan's party rejected the accusations and said the government had failed to provide it with the funding and equipment it needed to tackle the militants.

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The move comes after recent rallies by the PTI party calling for the release of Mr Khan. It is also preparing a march on the nation's capital Islamabad in the coming days.

The government has tried to cut access to the city by blocking major roads with shipping containers and deploying tens of thousands of security forces.

Mr Khan, a 74-year-old former cricket star, was removed from power in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.

He was jailed in 2023 on corruption charges that he and his party argue were politically motivated.

Mr Sharif returned to office after elections in February 2024, which Mr Khan's party has claimed was rigged to deny it victory - an accusation denied by the government.

Mr Khan's aide and spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari said the state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was "more of a coup disguised as ​emergency".

He added that it risked causing further bloodshed and instability.

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