At least three people were killed on Wednesday in clashes between Pakistani police and supporters of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, or PTM, following the government’s decision to ban the organization earlier this week, local officials reported.
The violence erupted in the town of Jamrud, near Peshawar, where hundreds of protesters gathered to denounce the ban. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd. According to Roohul Ameen, a doctor at a local hospital, three bodies were brought in after the clashes, along with about a dozen injured demonstrators.
Footage shared on social media showed officers firing into the air, launching tear gas, and charging at protesters with batons. Protesters responded by hurling stones at the police.
The Pakistani government announced the ban on the Pashtun Protection Movement on Monday, alleging that the group supports the Pakistani Taliban, an outlawed militant organization. Authorities have also prohibited PTM rallies in the country’s volatile northwest, claiming the protests are contrary to Pakistan’s interests. PTM leaders have denied any links to the Pakistani Taliban.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi defended the ban, accusing the PTM of trying to sow division within Pakistan. He condemned a planned Friday gathering of PTM elders, saying it aimed to arm supporters. “Those who are trying to spread anarchy must remember that we will not let it happen,” Naqvi told reporters in Islamabad.
Founded in 2014, the PTM emerged in response to alleged abuses by the Pakistani military and police against Pashtuns during counterterrorism operations. The group has long accused security forces of illegal detentions and other abuses against ethnic Pashtuns, claims the government and military have denied, asserting that their operations target only insurgents.
The PTM has since campaigned to pressure the military to withdraw from former tribal regions in the northwest, near the Afghan border. Pashtuns, an ethnic group primarily located in eastern and southern Afghanistan, also have significant populations in Pakistan, particularly along the border region.
