Government, opposition trade blame after attack on van carrying political prisoners in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A war of words erupted between the government and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Friday, shortly after three prison vans came under attack on the outskirts of Islamabad, with both sides accusing each other of orchestrating the incident, allegedly aimed at freeing 82 PTI prisoners.
The incident occurred near the Sangjani Toll Plaza on the historic Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Taxila as PTI workers, arrested during recent protests in the federal capital, were being transported back to Attock Jail after a court appearance.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar condemned the incident in a televised statement, blaming the PTI and its “history of violence” for the incident, while a PTI spokesperson accused the government of orchestrating the attack to discredit the party.
“The attack on the prisoner vans was a premeditated action,” the minister said.
“When the prison van slowed down near Sangjani Toll Plaza, armed workers in four vehicles attacked and attempted to free the 82 prisoners,” he added. “But all 19 escapees have been apprehended.”
Tarar claimed the son of a PTI lawmaker in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province was part of the plan and had been taken into custody. He noted that the attackers were equipped with weapons and shot at the police during the “botched attempt” to free the prisoners.
“Strict action will be taken,” he said. “Arrests will be made, and an example will be set so that no one attempts such an escape again.”
A PTI spokesperson, Shaikh Waqas Akram, however, said in a video clip the police broke the windows of the prison vans, opened their doors and forced all prisoners to step out.
“Police pushed them to run, but the PTI prisoners refused to escape,” he maintained.
In response, the information minister called the party’s narrative “laughable.”
“It sounds like a movie story where the police open the door and say, ‘Run away, we are setting you free,’ and then vandalize everything themselves,” he said. “All the CCTV footage [of the incident] is available.”
Tarar said the police were interrogating the arrested suspect to trace the mastermind of the incident, adding that the writ of the state would be enforced at all costs.
Earlier, local media reports said the attackers shot at the tires of the prison vans, causing them to burst.
Pakistan has witnessed significant political turbulence since the ouster of ex-premier Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
The former PM has been imprisoned for over a year on various charges, including corruption and sedition, which his party claims are politically motivated to sideline him from the national political landscape.
PTI has held demonstrations and rallies to pressure the government and secure his release. The latest protests in the capital, which led to the arrests of its workers and provincial lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were also part of the same campaign.