Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, announced on Sunday emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on a proposal by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, effectively removing Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from regional power, as thousands of Khan supporters continue anti-government protests and demand the former leader be released from jail.

The province was run by the PTI, whose provincial government was suspended after the state of emergency was declared.