By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government has authorised the deployment of three companies of the Pakistan Army to Rawalpindi for six months, according to an interior ministry order dated August 21 and confirmed on Saturday.
The order, issued under Article 245 of the constitution — which governs the deployment of armed forces in aid of civil power — followed a request from the Punjab Home Department. It authorises troops for what the government describes only as “sensitive security duties” in the garrison city, without specifying what those duties will involve.
“The federal government, exercising the powers conferred under Article 245 of the Constitution of Pakistan, is pleased to authorise deployment of 3x companies of the Pakistan Army for sensitive security duties in Rawalpindi,” the notification states, adding that the move is intended “to avoid any undesirable situation as well as to respond effectively in any unforeseen situation as per the requirement of the district administration,” with immediate effect.
The order does not name a specific trigger for the deployment. It comes, however, at a tense moment in Rawalpindi: on August 11, a man identified as Muhammad Hussain allegedly opened fire on a security patrol on Mall Road at around 11:15am, injuring an officer, before being killed in what officials describe as retaliatory fire. Pakistan Television News, citing security sources, identified the man as a resident of Khyber district and an active member of PTI.
Information minister Attaullah Tarar said afterwards that there was no justification for the shooting and accused PTI of promoting violence, saying party workers routinely carried weapons to protests. PTI has rejected the characterisation, calling for a judicial inquiry into the killing and insisting the party has never endorsed violence.
The backdrop to both events is PTI’s planned long march to Islamabad on September 27, announced this month by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister Shafi Jan, who said the decision had been taken in consultation with the party’s allies. The march is intended to press demands for the release of jailed party founder Imran Khan and his wife, an end to what the party calls the erosion of constitutional rule, relief from inflation, and a return to what it describes as the public’s electoral mandate.
The call followed nationwide protests marking the third anniversary of Khan’s imprisonment, and was reiterated this week by a cross-party group of opposition figures including National Assembly opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, senator Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Asad Qaiser, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi, and PTI secretary-general Salman Akram Raja. The same group said it would petition the Supreme Court over the government’s alleged failure to comply with a court order concerning Khan’s medical treatment.
That dispute stems from confusion over Khan’s hospital transfer: Tarar said this week that Khan had not been admitted to Shifa International Hospital, as had been anticipated under a Supreme Court order, but was instead taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for examination before being returned to Adiala jail.
Rawalpindi saw significant unrest during previous PTI mobilisations, including protests in May 2023 and November 2024 demanding Khan’s release, both of which led to clashes with law enforcement.
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