US Embassy in Pakistan Issues Security Alert as Former Prime Minister Arrested

A flag waves in the wind at a U.S. embassy in a file photo. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan issued a security warning on May 10 to Americans after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan triggered rioting and protests across the country.

“The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad continues to monitor the potential for road closures and/or traffic delays throughout Pakistan. The U.S. Embassy has canceled all routine consular appointments through Friday,” the bulletin said, adding that the embassy will be open for “emergency services.”

U.S. State Department staff are also being restricted from moving around Pakistan and can only conduct “official and mission-essential travel only, given potential road closures and associated traffic delays,” the alert states.

Despite the warning, the State Department didn’t elevate its advisory to Level 4, or the highest. Currently, Pakistan is under “Level 3 - Reconsider Travel,” according to the State Department’s website.

“American citizens are reminded of potential disruptions to cellphone service and should have contingency communication plans in place if traveling in-country. U.S. citizens are urged to pay attention to local media for security updates and planned road closures and maintain good situational awareness and security wherever they travel in Pakistan,” the May 10 advisory says.

“The U.S. Embassy strongly encourages U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings, unnecessary travel, and remain vigilant of their surroundings.”

Earlier in the week, Khan was arrested, prompting his followers to target government buildings and destroy police vehicles. Hundreds of Khan’s supporters were arrested, while mobile communications and social media networks were shut down by officials, Reuters reported.

Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau announced that Khan was arrested on several charges, including corruption, according to reports. His lawyer told CNN that Khan rejects the indictment before alleging that he was “tortured and beaten all night.”

The government said supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party had attacked important state buildings and damaged private and public vehicles. Police said 945 of his supporters had been arrested in Punjab province after 25 police vehicles and more than 14 government buildings were set on fire.

Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan chant slogans as they block a road as a protest to condemn the arrest of their leader, in Peshawar, Pakistan, on May 9, 2023. Muhammad Sajjad/AP Photo

“This can’t be tolerated, the law will take its course,” Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal told a news conference. “These violent attacks were not the outcome of any public outpouring, they were planned by the PTI rank and file.”

Authorities in three of Pakistan’s four provinces have imposed an emergency order banning all gatherings, after Khan’s supporters clashed with police. Khan, 70, was arrested from the Islamabad High Court by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency. Police said a court hearing would take place where he was being held in the Islamabad area.

There were also reports that the country’s military forces were deployed to deal with the rising unrest following Khan’s indictment.

Khan was ousted as prime minister in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He hasn’t slowed his campaign against the ouster even though he was wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he led a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections.

The corruption case is one of more than 100 registered against Khan since his ouster after four years in power. In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted, with a national election scheduled for November.

“Imran Khan will have to face the law and if he is cleared he will be contesting elections and if he is found guilty he will have to face the consequences,” Iqbal, the minister, said.

Khan and his wife were accused of having received, while he was prime minister, land worth up to 7 billion rupees ($24.7 million) from a property developer who had been charged in Britain with money laundering, officials have said.

Allegations of US Involvement

After he was ousted last year, Khan asserted that the U.S. government was involved in a plot to overthrow his government. Washington has denied the claim.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a news conference in Shaukat Khanum hospital, in Lahore, Pakistan, on Nov. 4, 2022. K.M. Chaudhry/AP Photo

Specifically, Khan alleged that Donald Lu, the assistant secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the Department of State, was involved in a “foreign conspiracy” seeking his ouster. In one reported instance, he said that Lu threatened that “Pakistan will suffer consequences” unless Khan was removed from power and claimed that his visit to Russia, which coincided with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, may have played a role.

“Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations,” State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said at the time.

“We continue to follow these developments, and we respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and rule of law,” she continued to say at the time. “But again, these allegations are absolutely not true.”

Khan’s arrest came at a time when Pakistanis are reeling from the worst economic crisis in decades, with record-high inflation and anemic growth. An International Monetary Fund bailout package has been delayed for months even though foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to cover a month’s imports.

Reuters contributed to this report.