ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's capital Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi shut down major roads, cut cellphone service, closed schools and shut down public transit on Friday as jailed former prime minister Imran Khan called on his supporters to take to the streets.
On Thursday evening, the government warned it would stop at nothing to quell the demonstrations as it blocked major arteries with shipping containers in the twin cities. Security forces converged on the capital region, home to about 2.3 million people, ahead of the latest in a series of demonstrations aimed at freeing the popular former leader.