President Asif Ali Zardari declared the emergency in the north-western province on Sunday on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, following a cabinet decision, according to the president's office. With that decree, Pakistan suspends the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the only administration run by Khan's PTI.

What the emergency decree does

The federal government said authorities in the province bordering Afghanistan had failed to tackle Islamist militancy. Under Pakistan's constitution, the government may take over from provincial authorities while an emergency is in force.

Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said a provincial governor would take charge. Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, he said the governor would initially be in place for six months but could remain for as long as needed. The interior ministry said it would be deploying troops in the province.

PTI calls it a 'coup disguised as emergency'

PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari described the step as "more of a coup disguised as emergency," adding that it risked inciting more bloodshed and instability. In his view, the aim was to halt the party's protest.

Sohail Afridi, who had previously been in charge of the province, now faces movement restrictions, one of his close aides told Reuters. Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F, whom the government had engaged to mediate with PTI, condemned the move. "Imposition of emergency is an ambush on democracy," he told a news conference in Islamabad.

The government's case and the protest backdrop

The takeover came a week after PTI supporters gathered in the province intending to march on Islamabad to demand Khan's release.

• •Hundreds of activists and three of Khan's sisters were detained before the planned march, in what PTI called one of the strongest crackdowns in years.
• •In Islamabad, the government has deployed tens of thousands of security forces and lined roads with containers to block protesters from reaching parliament.

Sharif told the cabinet that security forces and citizens had been under attack for two years. "We can't just act as a silent spectator," he said.

The dispute in context

Both the federal government and the military say PTI has failed to curb militants; the party rejects that charge and says Islamabad has not given it the funding and equipment it needs. Islamabad also accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants who attack inside Pakistan and says PTI has sympathised with the Taliban in Kabul and its domestic affiliates - claims both deny.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen a rising number of militant attacks in recent months. Candidates backed by Khan's party won the most seats in the 2024 election but formed a government only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Supporters of the 74-year-old former cricket star say the military rigged the vote against him, which the military denies.

Khan faces cases ranging from concerns over state gifts to instigating violence and an accusation of an unlawful marriage; all but one conviction have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing.

For now, a governor is to run the province, initially for six months, while troops are being deployed there.