Reuters: Mobile network down in several Pakistani cities
Photo: Asif HASSAN/AFP
Following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, street fighting broke out in several cities across Pakistan.
As of 5:30 p.m., Reuters reports that the mobile network is being taken down in several major cities. They refer to three anonymous sources.
There are also several social media reports that Facebook and Twitter are down in the capital Islamabad.
Reuters also reports that Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are blocked in different parts of the country. The news agency refers to three Pakistani television channels.
At least ten people, including six police officers, have been injured in the street fighting so far, according to local police.
Footage shows rioting and burning cars in, among other places, the big city of Karachi.
Khan was arrested on his way to a court hearing in Islamabad. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), called on people to take to the streets to protest the arrest.
It was in April last year that Khan was deposed as prime minister, after around four years as the country’s supreme leader.
The reason was a vote of no confidence in Pakistan’s National Assembly due to high inflation, ever-growing budget deficits and widespread corruption – which Khan had promised to fight, writes NTB.
In November last year, he was shot in the leg while leading a protest march between the major cities of Lahore and Islamabad demanding that new elections be called in the country.
“Creator. Communicator. Twitter evangelist. Passionate couch potato. Thinker. Pop culture aficionado. Award-winning web junkie.”
