The Pakistani Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI), the ruling party of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah (KP) Province, is virtually synonymous with leader Imran Khan. So when their leader (and for years only seated MP) called on supporters to blockade NATO supplies traveling through KP to Afghanistan, many party organizers immediately took to the streets.
But the PTI seems increasingly split on the blockade, with provincial officials giving police the okay to crack down on the demonstrators, sparking anti-PTI protests by PTI officials.
Police told the demonstrators they could protest alongside the highway where NATO supplies were crossing, but couldn’t stop the trucks. They also filed charges against 35 members of their own ruling party for involvement in the protests over the weekend.
Despite the police presence, reports suggested that NATO’s supplies have been slowed, and a number of trucks supposed to arrive in Afghanistan are still in Pakistan.