Afridi-led PTI convoy to head towards Kohat after overnight stay in Karak

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is set to lead the PTI convoy towards Kohat on Monday after spending the night in Karak, as the party resumes its long march following the collapse of talks between the government and opposition.

The march began on Sunday from Lakki Marwat after government-opposition talks failed to resolve a dispute over the PTI’s planned protest. The convoy later in the night reached Karak, with CM Afridi addressing participants at Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border.

CM Afridi is expected to address participants today before the procession moves towards Kohat. Internet services were also suspended in Karak.

Read: ‘Absolutely not’: CM Afridi rejects ‘closed-room’ decisions on military operations in K-P

The march is due to continue towards Peshawar after covering the southern districts. According to the route announced by Afridi, caravans from Kohat, Hangu, Kurram and Orakzai will join the procession on Tuesday before it travels from Kohat towards Peshawar.

The convoy is then scheduled to move through Peshawar, Charsadda and Mohmand before reaching Khairabad on October 8, where the next phase of the march was to be announced.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Central Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, senior legal expert and party leader Dr Babar Awan, and other central leaders would address the media at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House at 2:05pm today.

They are due to hold a press conference to present the party’s position on the country’s political situation and other issues, the party said in a post on X. The party invited media representatives to attend the press conference for live coverage.

It said the leaders would present the party’s stance on the political situation in the country and “other important matters”.

Talks fail to break deadlock

The march followed a failure by the government and opposition to reach an agreement over the PTI’s protest.

The talks, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, ended on Saturday without a breakthrough. The government wanted the PTI to cancel the march, while the opposition sought assurances that a meeting with jailed PTI founder Imran Khan would be facilitated.

PTI leaders subsequently said the march would proceed as planned. CM Afridi announced that its first phase would begin from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat on Sunday, with caravans from several southern districts joining the procession.

K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi warned on Sunday that an emergency could be imposed if necessary to “save the province”, as the PTI began its planned long march. He said the president, prime minister and other institutions could consider imposing an emergency if they believed the situation in the province had deteriorated.

Kundi also issued a warning to those taking part in the march, saying, “If an emergency is imposed, I alone will be enough for them.” He claimed PTI workers were currently “hiding and getting themselves arrested”.

CM Afridi, addressing participants of the march at Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Chowk on the Bannu-Karak border, rejected military operations and drone attacks in K-P and said decisions affecting the province should not be made in “closed rooms”.

He said the southern districts had repeatedly been subjected to terrorism and military operations, while also suffering collateral damage from drone attacks. The chief minister also rejected the possibility of governor’s rule or an emergency in the province, saying the PTI founder’s “vision and policy” would prevail in K-P.