Pak army's top brass meet, political crisis, violence continue

The top brass of the powerful Pakistani army chaired by its chief General Raheel Sharif held an urgent meeting tonight to discuss the political crisis that has engulfed the country after night-long clashes here between security forces and anti-government demonstrators left three people dead and nearly 500 others injured.
The army corps commanders met in Rawalpindi to take stock of the situation created by the 18-day siege of the heart of the Pakistani establishment, housing the Presidency, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office, took a turn for the worst since yesterday.
Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose ouster is the main demand of the protesters, decided to summon joint sitting of parliament on Tuesday to discuss the political crisis which erupted into widespread violence in the capital last night after supporters of opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri sought to storm Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's residence nearby by breaking through the police barricade.

The violence continued throughout the night and subsided this morning but the stand-off continued to force Sharif's resignation over alleged rigging during last year's elections.
Cricketer-turned-politician Khan vowed to fight till the last breath and asked Pakistanis to rebel against the "illegal" regime while Qadri alleged seven of his supporters were killed by security forces which could not be confirmed.
A security official said that the meeting called General Sharif was initially planned for tomorrow but it was rescheduled due to "deteriorating internal security situation".

Ghulam Mustafa Khan, a former army general, told Duniya TV that the commanders will discuss the entire security situation and try to conclude whether the civilian government can control it or not.

"They will also decide the level of army intervention," he said.
The army holds the key to resolving the impasse which has plunged the country into the worst crisis, 15 months after Sharif's PML-N was voted to power.
A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sharif decided to summon the joint session of the parliament to discuss prevailing crisis in the country and is expected to adopt another resolution for upholding the Constitution and supremacy of parliament.
The meeting condemned the attack on parliament by protesters and termed it against the Constitution.