Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday imposed emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a northwestern province bordering Afghanistan, and suspended its provincial government, led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, ahead of a planned march to Islamabad demanding his release.

According to a statement from the president’s office, Zardari took the decision on the recommendation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Cabinet. Under the measure, the province will come under the authority of the governor, who represents the federal government.

The announcement followed a statement from Sharif’s office that the federal Cabinet had recommended emergency rule, accusing the provincial administration of deliberately failing to cooperate in counterterrorism efforts.

Provincial Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Saturday called on supporters to prepare for a march to the capital. He launched the protest campaign last week, leading rallies through several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sharif’s government has repeatedly urged Afridi to defer the march since last month, citing a recent increase in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest. The federal government has also accused Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of sympathising with the militant group, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Pakistan has experienced a rise in militant attacks in recent years, many of which authorities attribute to the TTP. The group is separate from, but closely allied with, the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of providing shelter to TTP militants. Kabul has denied the allegation.