Following a call from imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan to take to the streets in protest over the suppression of democracy in the country, thousands of supporters of his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, or PTI, have congregated in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad this week. The mass rally, which has drawn participants from across the country, comes despite warnings from the military-backed government that it will respond with force to any sign of dissent – a promise that it now appears to be keeping in grisly fashion.
On Tuesday night, reports emerged of live gunfire by Pakistani soldiers targeting protestors. While the numbers of dead and wounded are still being tabulated, harrowing images have already begun circulating on social media of bloodied corpses of PTI activists and protestors, along with countless injured individuals suffering gunshot wounds and other violence. Eyewitnesses from the scene have alleged that snipers opened fire on the crowd under cover of darkness, while clear footage has shown police and paramilitary troops brutalizing protestors throughout the day.
Just before the violence escalated, Pakistani journalist Javed Rana filed a video dispatch for Drop Site News, interviewing protestors and laying out the reasons for the demonstration. The dispatch shows a country on the precipice of major unrest, with popular anger over the rigging of elections and imprisonment of Khan reaching a boiling point, and no off-ramp in site.
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