ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: One Pakistan army officer was martyred while another received series injuries on the motorway where the government had placed containers to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers from entering Islamabad.
In a statement, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that a military convoy was on its way to Nowshera from Rawalpindi on the motorway on Saturday evening.
However, at around 08:00 pm routes were blocked with containers; therefore Lieutenant Colonel Shahid and Major Jalal got down from vehicles and were on foot to find an alternate route for the convoy.
But in the dark of the night, both army officers fell from the road edge into a ditch along the motorway near Hazro.
Subsequently, Lt Colonel Shahid embraced Shahadat whereas Major Jalal got seriously injured.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan issued orders for clearance of roads at 09:30, a short while after the unfortunate incident took place on the motorway.
The administration has placed a number of containers on various routes leading to Islamabad as part of its tactics to prevent PTI workers from entering the Federal Capital where Imran Khan along with other opposition parties including Sheikh Rasheed’s Awami Muslim League (AML), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Tahirul Qadri’s’ Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) plans to hold a sit-in on November 2.
Earlier in the day Imran Khan also asked the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to take notice of hurdles, the government had created to stop PTI workers in complete defiance of court’s orders.