Pakistan’s ex-PM Khan ordered detained amid unrest

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can be held for eight days, a court ruled Wednesday, a day after the popular opposition leader was dragged from a courtroom and arrested on corruption charges, deepening the country's political turmoil.

Khan's arrest Tuesday set off violent clashes involving his supporters and police in several cities, including Islamabad, that left at least six people dead, and his continued detention raised the prospect of more unrest.

Following a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif denounced the attacks on public property and military installations, and he approved the deployment of troops in the capital of Islamabad, in the country's most populous province of Punjab, and in the volatile northwest, according to a government statement.

In the latest unrest, thousands of protesters stormed a radio station and offices of the state-run agency in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The military weighed in Wednesday with a strongly worded statement, vowing to take stern action against those seeking to push Pakistan toward a “civil war.” It called the organised attacks on its installations a “black chapter” in the country's political history.

“What the eternal enemy of the country could not do for 75 years, this group, wearing a political cloak, in the lust for power, has done it,” the statement said, adding that troops had exercised restraint but they will respond to further attacks, and those involved will bear the responsibility.

It said those who facilitated or planned attacks on military installations had been identified, and “strict action will be taken against them as per the law, and all these evil elements will now be responsible for the consequences.”

The military did not directly name Khan, the 70-year-old politician who was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year.

His dramatic arrest on Tuesday — he was pulled out of a hearing in Islamabad's High Court on one set of charges, only to be arrested on another set — was the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan.

He is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in the country, which has also seen interventions by the powerful military over the years. The move comes at a time of economic crisis, when the cash-strapped nation is trying to avoid a default.

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