Violent clashes in Pakistan as police try to arrest former leader Imran Khan

Protests have erupted in cities across Pakistan, with clashes between police and supporters of ousted leader Imran Khan ahead of his possible arrest.

Police charged at supporters with batons and lobbed teargas shells.

Hundreds of Khan supporters gathered outside his house after a police team arrived from Islamabad to arrest him on a court order, government spokesman Amir Mir told Reuters.

Khan called on his supporters to stand up for the supremacy of law and fight for true independence.

“Police have come to arrest and send me to jail,” he said in a video posted on his Twitter feed. “If something happens to me, or sent to jail, or they kill me, you’ve to prove that this nation will continue to struggle even without Imran Khan.”

Similar clashes took place last week.

Police said workers from Khan’s PTI party attacked officers with stones and bricks.

Television pictures showed Khan supporters also using sling-shots.

Khan has been embroiled in several court cases since his ousting early last year in a parliamentary vote of confidence.

A court in Islamabad had issued an arrest warrant in a case against him for unlawfully selling state gifts while in power from 2018 to 2022.

He has been demanding snap polls in protest rallies across the country, a move his successor Shehbaz Sharif has rejected, saying the elections would be held as scheduled later this year.

Reuters contributed to this report.