PTI's K-P ranks hit by arrests

Alleged abductions and arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers and workers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have continued unabated, with the party reporting that three members of the national assembly and five members of the provincial assembly have been taken since 20 September.

PTI leaders say the incidents intensified after the party announced its long march. According to party accounts, the tally now includes the three MNAs and five MPAs plus more than a dozen-and-a-half workers and office-bearers who remain missing.

The sequence of reported events began with an alleged attempt to abduct Provincial Minister for Construction and Communication Shakeel Khan on 20 September. The following day, Provincial Minister for Irrigation Fazal Shakoor Khan was reportedly seized from a motorway toll plaza.

On 22 September, National Assembly member Fazal Khan from Charsadda was said to have been taken from Rashakai. That same night, between 22 and 23 September, Zubair Khan, the National Assembly member from South Waziristan, was allegedly abducted from his residence in Dera Ismail Khan.

Provincial Assembly member Muhammad Riaz from Kolai-Palas was reported missing on 25 September, while Sultan Rom, the MPA from Swat, was taken by unidentified persons the next day. In a separate incident, unidentified assailants attacked the hujra of MPA Abdul Karim Tordher in Swabi with intense gunfire and then abducted his brother Abdul Nasir along with three security guards.

Reports have also emerged of the arrests in Islamabad of MPA Fateh-ul-Mulk Nasir from Chitral and National Assembly member Dawar Kundi from Tank.

Earlier cases cited by the party include the 17 September abduction of Amir Ijaz, regional general secretary of the Insaf Lawyers Forum. PTI has claimed that Dr Nabi Jan of the Insaf Doctors Forum was likewise taken by unidentified persons. In Mardan, the abduction of MPA Abdul Salam Afridi has been reported and a first information report lodged with police.

Party spokesmen describe the pattern as systematic targeting of elected representatives and grassroots workers in the province. They say the operations have created an atmosphere of fear among PTI ranks and disrupted organisational activity ahead of the planned long march.

Official confirmation of the status of each individual remains limited. Some cases have been registered as abductions; others are described by authorities as arrests linked to ongoing investigations. Families and party lawyers continue to press for information on the whereabouts of those still unaccounted for.

As of the latest reports from Peshawar, the series of incidents that began after 20 September has not subsided, leaving three national and five provincial lawmakers either missing or in custody and a larger number of PTI workers untraceable.