Armed individuals have abducted Fazal Shakoor Khan—a minister in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial government—from the motorway near Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The incident, which involved gunfire at his vehicle and his subsequent transfer to an undisclosed location, has sparked political turmoil across the province.
According to details, Provincial Minister Fazal Shakoor Khan was traveling from Charsadda to Peshawar with his driver and a gunman to attend meetings of the parliamentary committee and the provincial assembly. As his vehicle reached the Peshawar motorway toll plaza, armed individuals—dressed in a mix of black uniforms and plain clothes—attempted to intercept him and fired directly at the vehicle’s tires.
The armed men later released the provincial minister’s driver and gunman a short distance away but forcibly took Minister Fazal Shakoor Khan with them to an unknown location. A video of the incident has surfaced and was screened inside the hall during an emergency session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly; meanwhile, an application for the registration of an FIR regarding the incident has been submitted at the Chamkani police station.
Addressing a press conference in Peshawar alongside senior leaders, representatives of the provincial government described the incident as an attempt to exact political revenge through the use of force. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi asserted that such violence against ministers and unconstitutional actions by state agencies and security institutions would not succeed in derailing their political movement or protest march. It is worth noting that a day prior to this incident, paramilitary forces and individuals in uniform had attempted to abduct another provincial minister, Shakeel Ahmed, in a similar manner involving gunfire; however, he managed to escape the scene safely.
These incidents targeting provincial ministers are occurring at a time when the PTI has announced a protest long march towards Islamabad for September 27, 2026.
According to political and military analysts, the country’s military institutions—specifically the ISI and Military Intelligence (MI)—are behind these abduction-style operations and arrests; acting in concert with the federal government, they are overstepping constitutional and legal boundaries to thwart the September 27 protest and increase pressure on the KP government.
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