Former Pakistan PM And PTI Chief Imran Khan Added To No-Fly List

Former Pakistan Chief Minister Imran Khan, along with his wife Bushra Bibi and approximately 80 other members of his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have been placed on a no-fly list, according to reports.

This action comes in the wake of growing speculation surrounding a potential ban on the PTI, following recent attacks by some of its supporters on military installations.

Khan and several top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party are facing cases following the violence after he was arrested on May 9 in a corruption case.''

The federal government has decided to add the names of 80 people, including PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, to the no-fly list,'' the Samaa News channel reported.

However, there was no official confirmation on the development from Khan's party.

In addition to Khan and Bushra, those included in the no-fly list and barred from travelling abroad include PTI leaders Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bukhari, Fawad Chaudhry and Hammad Azhar, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Yasmin Rashid and Mian Aslam, the channel said.

Fawad Chaudhry has already quit the party but his name has been listed among those who cannot fly out of Pakistan.

The names of all the PTI leaders were put in the list on the recommendation of the "institutions concerned", the news channel reported.

It said that the police department, National Accountability Bureau and the anti-corruption department had requested the Ministry of Interior to include these names to the no-fly list.

The no-fly list is maintained by the Ministry of Interior and officials deployed at airports or other land exit routes are provided the names of individuals who cannot go out.

Pakistan authorities maintain different categories of people who are banned from leaving the country for various reasons, including those who face corruption cases.

But these lists had been used in the past by the governments to muzzle the opposition.

When Khan was the prime minister, names of several high-profile personalities, including PML-N leader and current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, were put on the no-fly list.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the government is mulling a possible ban on Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party following the attacks by his supporters on military installations after the former prime minister's arrest.

Imran Khan, who addressed the nation on Wednesday, informed the people of Pakistan about an ongoing extensive crackdown on his political party.

On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of 70-year-old Khan by paramilitary Rangers. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commander house, Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.