Leaked Information Reveals Pakistan Army Planned Its Brutal Crackdown on Protests, Including Live Fire and Subsequent Cover-up

In late November, the military executed a brutal operation to counter the political opposition, according to a source inside the military

Today is the official publication day for Refaat Alareer’s new book “If I Must Die.” As you’ve no doubt seen by now, we’ve been pushing to make it a global bestseller. According to the publisher, roughly 10,000 copies have already been pre-ordered, which gives it a fighting chance to hit the New York Times’ bestseller list. A few thousand more this week would make it hard for them to keep it off. Please order a copy if you haven’t yet. If you already have, please get a few more for friends and family. You can do that from the foul behemoth Amazon here or from an independent bookstore at Bookshop.org.

(To buy from Bookshop, go directly to Bookshop.org in your browser and search for his book. We have sent so many people to that small site, that its security system thinks its a DDOS attack and is blocking links directly to it. Try it here and you’ll probably be blocked.)

Also, please nudge everybody you know in real life or in a discord to order it as well. If you’re in the chat on, say, Hasan’s stream (he’ll be hosting TNC today) make sure everyone in the chat buys it. Collectively we can do this.

With apologies, this won’t be the last time we’ll nudge you on this today. Royalties go to his surviving family and we have nothing to do with this book commercially. Let’s let it be a tale.

Read a review we published yesterday.

Leaked Information Reveals Pakistan Army Planned Brutal Crackdown on Protests, Including Live Fire and Subsequent Cover-up

By Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim

The Pakistan Army planned to carry out a lethal crackdown on supporters of the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan in November, according to a source inside the Pakistan Army, confirmed by a second source with knowledge of the planning.

The revelations of the government's multi-stage plan, which included a communications blackout, snipers, tear-gas armed soldiers, strategic blockades in the heart of Islamabad, and the use of live ammunition, shows the level of alarm Pakistan's military government feels about supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf (PTI) party. Yet at the same time, the chilling details revealed by the source, who we are providing anonymity due to the likelihood of reprisal, along with the government's repeated denials of the details of its operation, suggests it remains confident in its ability to crush dissent and break the back of the pro-PTI movement. A second source with knowledge of the planning independently confirmed the outlines of the Army source’s information.

On November 26, Khan had called for demonstrations in Islamabad, the capital city. Heeding his call, thousands of PTI supporters from around the country descended on Islamabad, crossing all hurdles and removing cargo containers placed in their way, while confronting internet shutdowns and tear gas shelling. One contingent of the protestors was led by Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, and another by Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah province, the only one of Pakistan's four provinces where Khan's party still forms a government.

In the run-up to the protests, the Pakistani government shut down social media apps like WhatsApp and called the military into the capital, giving it blanket shoot-on-sight powers. The government had claimed that the protestors would not be able to reach Islamabad. But by the evening of November 26, they had reached the heart of Islamabad, only feet from the central D-Chowk roundabout, the symbolic heart of the Pakistani government. The government mission at this point, according to the source within the Pakistani military, was to repel the protestors from from D-Chowk – the final hill for Pakistan's military-backed government to defend.

According to the source, who provided substantial evidence to confirm the allegation, the operation was planned on the morning of November 25 at the Military Operations directorate of the Pakistan Army, under the direction of General Asim Munir, Pakistan's powerful chief of army staff. Under the plan, Jinnah Avenue, the main road in front of D-Chowk, would be encircled, with stacks of shipping containers serving as a barricade. Snipers from Pakistan Army Special Services Group (SSG) were deployed across rooftops while paramilitary rangers carrying assault rifles patrolled the roadside alongside police armed with teargas shells.

As night fell on Islamabad, thousands of PTI supporters massed on Jinnah Avenue, just a stone's throw from D-Chowk. The orders from high command were clear: prevent the protesters from reaching D-Chowk at all costs.

To execute the plan, the military employed a multi-pronged approach, the source said. The first phase was to sow chaos and fear. Lights along Jinnah Avenue were extinguished, plunging the area into darkness.

At the same time, signals intelligence teams from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency jammed communications networks, effectively cutting off the protesters' ability to communicate with each other and the outside world. This blackout, according to the source, was designed to disorient and demoralize the protestors.

As confusion gripped the crowds, the second phase of the operation swung into action: The Army gave the order to fire tear gas from multiple directions, and the choking fumes sent panicked protesters fleeing.

This was only the prelude to the main assault.

What followed next, according to the source: a barrage of live ammunition, including heavy assault rifle fire, directed indiscriminately at the fleeing crowds. Snipers, positioned strategically on rooftops, took aim at those deemed hostile or threatening. "Many ran away when initial bursts were sprayed," the source said. "It is uncertain who ordered aimed heavy machine-gun fire onto masses."

Aleema Khan, the sister of Imran Khan, was present for the massacre, and described the tear gas as well as the shooting in an interview with Drop Site. She said that when the protesters were plunged into darkness, nearby cars quickly turned off their lights to avoid becoming targets, and also turned off cell phones. The younger protesters worked to pick up and throw back the tear gas canisters, she said, while the elderly demonstrators sought cover. The rally, she added, had been festive throughout the day. Many protesters were joined by their children, displaying no intention of turning violent.

During the operation, a MALE UAV (medium-altitude long-endurance) and smaller drones with thermal imaging capability provided live surveillance, relaying real-time footage of the unfolding carnage to the operation's command center. This level of technological sophistication indicated the crackdown was pre-meditated, the source said.

The final phase of the operation involved a swift and thorough cleanup. As soon as the firing ceased, ISI units were dispatched to Jinnah Avenue to remove all traces of the violence, the source said. This included removing bodies, shell casings, and any other evidence that could contradict the government's narrative of a peaceful dispersal.

The source's account aligns with reports from several independent sources.

Eyewitness accounts from protesters, some published in international media outlets like NRK, detail a terrifying scene of snipers shooting into crowds and the use of live ammunition. Medical professionals, speaking anonymously to the BBC and The Guardian, described treating numerous gunshot wounds and witnessing fatalities. The efforts to conceal evidence are corroborated by reports of authorities confiscating medical records and pressuring medical staff to remain silent.

The deployment of Pakistan Army SSG snipers on the rooftops is also consistent with eyewitness testimonies, a video of Pakistan army troops with large sniper rifle cases arriving at the site, and a sniper rifle captured from one of the soldiers that resembles equipment issued by the Pakistan Army SSG.

Efforts to suppress information about the true extent of the crackdown went beyond the immediate aftermath of the operation.

After he began investigating the protest casualties, Matiullah Jan, a journalist and longtime critic of the military's influence on Pakistani politics, was abducted, arrested, and charged with terrorism and possession of narcotics. Hours before his abduction, Jan had hosted a television program in which he disputed the government's claims that no live fire had been used and that no protesters had been killed in the crackdown. On his broadcast, Jan presented what he claimed were hospital records that contradicted the official narrative.

At the time, Jan was investigating the number of casualties at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) with his colleague, Saqib Bashir, when men wearing black uniforms showed up, abducted and blindfolded them, and took them away in a car. While Bashir was released three hours later, Jan remained in custody and was later charged with terrorism, drug peddling, and attacking the police. The charges allege that Jan was under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest.

Jan, who was released after being granted bail, denies the charges, calling them "fake, funny, and fabricated," and maintains that he was investigating the deaths of protesters. Amnesty International has condemned his arrest as "an affront to the right to freedom of expression and media freedom," calling the charges "trumped-up" and "politically motivated." Amnesty International has also called for a "urgent and transparent investigation" into the "the deadly crackdown on opposition protestors".

According to the PTI, at least 14 people have been killed and around 200 injured. However, the real number is hard to ascertain as hundreds of protestors remain missing with their families uncertain if they are dead or alive. Aleema Khan said that the roundup of so many protesters after the rally contributed to the confusion, as some of those still missing may be in secret custody rather than killed. “They shouldn’t have shot them,” said Khan. “Why would you shoot them. We are not in an enemy country.”