ISLAMABAD, May 25 (Agencies): As PTI's Azadi March began on Wednesday, tensions in Punjab rose after police made use of tear gas and arrested several PTI marchers in cities across the province as activists attempted to remove shipping containers blocking routes to Islamabad.
A little after 6pm, the main convoy from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which includes PTI chief Imran Khan, was able to enter Punjab from Attock after successfully removing the barricades placed by the Punjab government at the Attock bridge to stop marchers from entering the province.
Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday led the convoy of thousands of supporters towards the capital Islamabad in a show of force the new government has attempted to shut down, with clashes breaking out between police and protesters.
Pakistani police fired teargas, baton-charged and detained supporters of Imran to stop them from reaching the capital Islamabad.
Political and economic volatility has deepened in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation ahead of a likely announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later in the day on whether it will resume a $6 billion rescue package.
With foreign reserves falling to $10.3 billion - lower than two months of imports - a fast-crashing rupee and double-digit inflation, Pakistan's political turmoil has compounded its social and economic discontent.
Khan, ousted in a confidence vote last month after losing his partners in his coalition, has urgedsupporters to march on Islamabad and stay there until the new government is dissolved and a date for a fresh election is announced.
Islamabad's entry and exit routes have been blocked, as well as all important sites, including parliament, government offices and diplomatic missions, officials said. Entry and exit points were also blocked to and from all major cities in Punjab province and on the Grand Trunk Road (GTR), they said.
