The Governor House in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was set on fire amid rising political tensions after the federal government imposed a state of emergency, according to reports from Islamabad on 12 October 2026. Videos circulating on social media showed the building engulfed in flames, while other footage captured police firing and shelling in cities across the province. Details on the circumstances of the fire, the extent of damage and any casualties were not immediately available.

The incident occurred as unrest grew in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the emergency declaration, which suspended the provincial government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. On Sunday, large numbers of people took to the streets to protest the move. A planned PTI march to Islamabad was disrupted amid a broad security crackdown that eroded the party’s provincial power base, The Express Tribune reported.

Police arrested 59 PTI workers in Swabi and six in Khyber district. Reports indicated that ousted Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar had been taken into custody. Security personnel were deployed at major intersections and highways across the province, and mobile phone and PTCL internet services were suspended in Swabi as the federal government assumed control of the provincial administration. In a separate development, former chief minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said he had been placed under house arrest at his residence in Dera Ismail Khan.

Opposition parties strongly opposed the imposition of governor’s rule, describing it as an assault on democracy and pledging to challenge it through legal and public platforms. In a statement reported by Dawn, the PTI warned that the decision set a “dangerous precedent” and amounted to political victimisation intended to weaken the province’s elected leadership. The party called for the immediate release of Sohail Afridi and Junaid Akbar and demanded that the federal government disclose the legal justification, specific charges and procedures behind their arrests. The Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayin-i-Pakistan also vowed to contest the move in courts, assemblies and public forums, asserting that the PTI’s planned protest march would proceed as announced.

The arson and related security measures have heightened concerns over the law-and-order situation in the province.

(mid-day)