The interior ministry approved on Monday the deployment of Rangers in Rawalpindi and Attock at the request of the Punjab government amid the PTI’s plans to march towards Islamabad on Tuesday (tomorrow).

Two wings of the Pakistan Rangers will be stationed in each city to assist the provincial government in maintaining law and order. The deployment aims to enhance security and ensure a peaceful environment in the region.

Earlier in the day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced plans to march to D-Chowk in Islamabad on Tuesday (tomorrow), as Pakistan hosts a heads-of-government gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

“The government is compelling us into this action [protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk] due to the unclear situation regarding our leader [Imran Khan],” he told reporters in the corridor of the KP CM House in Peshawar.

Gandapur was responding to queries related to the PTI’s “peaceful protest” in Islamabad tomorrow when he entered the Chief Minister’s House.

Last week, Imran Khan’s party announced its decision to protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on October 15—the day the country would host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the federal capital—to seek the incarcerated former prime minister’s release.

The SCO, which includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is a significant economic and security bloc that has become one of the largest trans-regional international organizations.

In addition to the high-profile leaders, around 900 delegations will be present in Islamabad for the event. Approximately 200 members of the international media, including representatives from Indian media outlets, are expected to cover the conference.