Pakistan calls army in capital days before bond sale

Police have failed to clear the protesters despite an order from the high court to end the protest

Pakistan’s government ordered paramilitary forces known as the rangers into Islamabad to clear protesters from a right-wing religious party, who have held the capital city under siege for three weeks, after the army called for a peaceful solution.

Major General Azhar Hayat Khan of the rangers was named by the government to be “in charge of an operation to handle and clear the sit-in” by protesters, after eight people including two police officers died in clashes. Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday and advised against deploying the army, Dawn television channel reported.

Abbasi’s