Mohsin Naqvi, the interim Chief Minister of Punjab, alleged that during the May 9 riots, protesters planned to set fire to jets at the Pakistan Air Force Base (PAF) M.M. Alam in Mianwali. He stated that the vast majority of the people in Mianwali were armed and that the incident was an attack on Pakistan. CM Naqvi declares Yasmin Rashid the ‘key player’ in May 9 protests.
On May 9, protesters attacked the Mianwali Air Base, which was named after the 1965 war hero Muhammad Mahmood Alam, also known as MM Alam.
According to Naqvi, PTI rioters set fire to 108 automobiles and 26 buildings, as well as damaging safe city cameras. He conducted a news conference at the CM House in Lahore with the Punjab Inspector General and Chief Secretary, revealing that PTI woman leader Yasmin Rashid was a key player in the attack on Jinnah House.
Naqvi stated that approximately 3400 people were present outside the Jinnah House, while around 400 people were present inside, also known as Corps Commander House. He pledged to hold those responsible for the May 9 incidents accountable and claimed that it was a pre-planned and coordinated attack on public and army installations. Naqvi also mentioned that two metro stations worth a billion rupees were burnt to ashes.
He criticized Zalmay Khalilzad, who he claimed was a paid person that had been tweeting paid posts against Pakistan. He confirmed that the police were instructed not to open fire shots at any place and to act within the law if someone trespassed in a government building. Naqvi acknowledged that the police also complained about facing stones.
The Punjab Chief Minister stated that newspaper advertising was well-received by the public and that the government had begun depositing Rs0.2 million and Rs0.5 million on tip-off information. He promised that everybody who had been wrongfully arrested would be released. The Punjab chief executive admitted that stopping police officers from firing shots was a mistake, but that if someone attacked a government building, the police would use force in accordance with the law.
Furthermore, Rawalpindi Capital City Police Office (CPO) Syed Khalid Hamdani informed the media that 276 persons were arrested in connection with violent mob attacks on public buildings. He went on to say that the police had filed 17 FIRs and that a guy who used petrol to torch the General Headquarters (GHQ) gate had been apprehended using camera evidence. Hamdani revealed that demonstrators sought to demolish the GHQ main gate and that 26 suspects in the GHQ attacks were brought before the media on Sunday.
