Martial law covers Pakistan capital
Army will have powers to maintain law and order in the federal capital
Update: 2014-07-26 03:25 GMT
Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday imposed a de-facto mini-martial law in Islamabad for the next three months as Army was called to maintain law and order. “Interior ministry has invoked Article 245 of the Constitution in Islamabad for next three months. Under this article, the Army has been given powers to maintain law and order in the federal capital”, said interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Talking to reporters here, the interior minister said that the security of Islamabad will be handed over to the armed forces from August 1 for a period of three months. “The Army has been called in to maintain law and order from August till October”, he added.
It is widely believed the decision to invoke article 245 was taken to thwart the rally of Mr Imran Khan and his party, the Tehrik-e-Insaf.