Thousands of anti-government protesters have converged in Pakistan's capital to stage a sit-in seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan over alleged election rigging and a weak economy.
Earlier on Friday, the opposition demanded that cricket star-turned-politician Khan and his administration resign within two days, raising the stakes in a protest campaign that the government has denounced as a threat to democracy.
This is the first major challenge to PM Khan, led by his long-term rival, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and backed by other prominent opposition parties. On Friday, they gave the PM 48 hours to step down.
PM Khan has been hit by claims his election win in 2018 was unfair. An EU observer mission overseeing Pakistan's election in 2018 found no evidence of vote-rigging but a "lack of equality of opportunity" for each party in the run-up to the election.
