Minister Talal Chaudhry has confirmed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Sohail Afridi, and some members of his cabinet are in preventive custody, the central development in Monday's KP emergency rule news. The detentions followed President Asif Ali Zardari's decision on Sunday to declare a state of emergency and suspend the provincial government led by Afridi, an aide of former prime minister Imran Khan. Chaudhry said the chief minister and some cabinet colleagues were held on Sunday at the chief minister's house in Peshawar.
What officials say about the detentions
Preventive custody is a holding step. On its own, it is not a criminal charge. Chaudhry said that if any of those held have cases, they will be charged and tried, and that the others will be released. Speaking to Reuters, in an account published by Business Recorder, he said: "Yes, I can confirm that the chief minister and some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody."
Witnesses and officials told that report that police, paramilitary forces and shipping containers were placed around the chief minister's house and other important buildings nearby. The report said three sisters and hundreds of supporters were detained ahead of a planned march.
Headlines at Arab News, Firstpost and CGTN, citing police, also said hundreds of party members had been held. Firstpost's headline included the provincial chief minister among those detained. None of the accounts gives a name-by-name list of cabinet members. Shaukat Yousafzai, an aide to Khan, condemned the detentions and demanded that the people held be released.
Why the centre suspended the province
The federal government said emergency rule followed the provincial government's failure to tackle terrorism in a province that borders Afghanistan. Business Recorder reported a growing number of militant attacks in recent months and did not give a figure. PTI rejected that account. The party said the suspension was intended to deter Khan's supporters from marching to Islamabad to press for his release.
During an emergency, the Constitution allows the federal government to assume the functions of a provincial administration. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Governor Faisal Karim Kundi would take charge after Zardari's declaration. Zaviya has set out that constitutional route in a separate explainer and reported the order under which the governor takes charge.
Where talks with the party broke down
Emergency rule came a week after Khan's supporters had rallied for days in the province. They planned to march to Islamabad to demand his release and medical treatment. The government and PTI held several rounds of talks after the march call was made last month, according to Business Recorder.
Chaudhry said the government was ready to accept all of the party's demands, including a go-ahead for the march. The remaining difference, he said, was a public position on militancy.
He put it this way: "We asked for just one thing, that the party should publicly condemn terrorism and join our hands in the fight against terrorism." He said the party did not accept that condition, so the negotiations ended. The centre accuses PTI of failing to curb terrorists. The party denies the charge.
The report recalled that the party's last large protest, two years ago, ended in deadly clashes with security forces. It also recalled that Khan's arrest in 2023 was followed by nationwide riots in which supporters attacked military installations.
What remains unresolved
Further KP emergency rule news depends on who, if anyone, is charged. Chaudhry said those with cases would be tried and the others released, but he gave no timetable and did not name the cabinet members in custody. Governor Kundi is to run the province while Afridi's government stays suspended. In Peshawar, the change witnesses described is the security presence around the chief minister's house and nearby facilities.
