Pakistan President Imposes Emergency Rule in KP Province, Suspending PTI Government as Islamabad March Looms
Pakistan’s president has declared a state of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the northwestern province governed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, escalating a deepening political crisis on Sunday, October 11, 2026. Reuters
The emergency, signed by President Asif Ali Zardari under Articles 232 and 234 of the constitution on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet, gives the federal government broad administrative powers over the province. The official justification cited the KP government’s “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism,” though PTI rejected this, arguing its opposition to large-scale military operations stems from concerns over civilian casualties.
The timing is politically charged. PTI had launched a long march toward Islamabad on October 4, demanding Khan’s release after more than three years in detention, with supporters set to converge on the capital by October 14. Senior PTI official Zulfikar Bukhari called the emergency “the overthrow of the only legitimately elected government of Pakistan,” warning it would lead to “further bloodshed, instability and collateral damage.”
The federal government had erected container barriers across Islamabad’s access roads and vowed to stop the march from entering the capital. Read our previous article on Pakistan related news here.
