Khan leads anti-government protest

Thousands of followers of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have shut down major roads in the eastern city of Lahore.

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Imran Khan (C) head of opposition political party Pakitan Tehrik-e-Insaf speaks to supporters during a protest against the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz in Lahore, Pakistan. (EPA/RAHAT DAR)

Supporters of the party of Pakistan's Imran Khan have shut down major roads in the eastern city of Lahore in a fresh protest against the government.

Thousands of followers of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gathered at different junctions on major roads in the city on Monday and burned tyres, forcing the suspension of public transport.

Khan, a star cricketer turned politician, claims the 2013 general election which brought Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to power was rigged.

He wants Sharif, whose power base lies in Lahore, to resign.

Local and foreign observers, however, have rated the polls as credible.

The Punjab provincial government, which is run by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party, accused Khan's supporters of reneging on an agreement to let ambulances through their barricades.

Salman Rafique, health adviser to the Punjab chief minister, said three people, including two infants, had died in ambulances stuck in traffic caused by the protests.

A doctor in Lahore children's hospital said they received a body of a newborn baby but the cause of death was not clear.

PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi denied the allegations, insisting party workers had not stopped ambulances taking patients to hospitals.

Thousands of police were on the streets to try to prevent violence, following clashes at a similar protest in the city of Faisalabad last week.

Khan has vowed to paralyse major cities around the country as part of his efforts to topple Sharif's government.


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