Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan directly accused the country’s powerful army chief on Friday of being behind his arrest, in his first public comments since he was dramatically detained on corruption charges earlier this week, sparking deadly protests.
“There is only one man taking action against me and that is the army chief,” Khan told reporters in court on Friday, referring to army chief General Syed Asim Munir.
CNN has approached Pakistan’s military for comment.
Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing it of colluding with senior military leaders to remove him from office and keep him locked out of politics.
He was arrested on corruption charges by paramilitary troops on Tuesday in a sudden operation that saw officers smash their way into a courthouse in the capital Islamabad to detain him.
The sudden move turbocharged what was already a tense showdown between the military and Khan’s supporters that had been simmering for months.
On Thursday Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that Khan’s arrest earlier in the week was unlawful and Khan was back in court on Friday as proceedings continued.
Earlier in the day he was transported to court surrounded by a wall of police officers clad in riot gear.
Unrest spread across multiple major cities following Khan’s arrest, resulting in unprecedented scenes of defiant crowds breaking into military properties and setting the homes of army personnel ablaze, directly challenging a usually untouchable force that has long sat at the apex of power in Pakistan.
access to social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as well as key delivery apps and even digital payment platforms.
At least eight people have died and hundreds have been arrested nationwide, according to officials.
Police have also arrested several senior leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for “inciting arson and violent protests.”
In recent months Khan has repeatedly accused the current government of colluding with the military and the United States in a conspiracy to remove him from office, claims both parties rejected.
The army has previously rejected Khan’s claims it had anything to do with past purported attempts on his life.
Earlier this week the army accused Khan and his supporters of crossing a red line, saying that military property and installations have been “systematically attacked” and that “anti-army slogans were raised.”
“Any further attack on the army, including all law enforcement agencies, military and state installations and properties, will be severely retaliated against,” the military said in a Wednesday statement, its first since Khan’s arrest.
“The full responsibility of which will be on the very group that wants to push Pakistan into civil war.”
The crisis comes as the nation of 220 million people grapples with an acute economic crisis, as soaring inflation leaves people unable to afford food and fuel, heightening fears about the country’s stability in what is an election year for Pakistan.
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