Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for new demonstrations in the country after days of clashes between his supporters and security forces sparked by his arrest.
Khan, 70, said on Saturday evening, in a speech to supporters from his home in Lahore, northeast, that "freedom cannot be obtained easily; it has to be snatched, it has to be sacrificed for it."
The former prime minister (2018-2022) was arrested last Tuesday by dozens of armed elements during a routine appearance before an Islamabad court in a corruption case.
Khan was released on bail on Friday after the Supreme Court deemed his detention illegal, but Home Minister Rana Thanaullah vowed to arrest Khan again.
The arrest of Khan, a popular former cricketer who later became involved in politics, sparked violent clashes in several Pakistani cities between his supporters and security forces, setting fire to several official departments, blocking roads and vandalizing army facilities.
Dead and wounded
In his speech, Khan distanced himself from the vandalism of military installations, denying that members of his party were involved, and called for an independent investigation into the violence.
At least nine people were killed during the clashes, according to hospitals and police. Hundreds of police officers were injured and more than 9,4 people were arrested, mostly in the provinces of Punjab and its capital, Lahore (east), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest), according to authorities.
But the former official called on his supporters to take to the streets of the country on Sunday, announcing that he would resume campaigning for early elections next Wednesday.
Earlier on Saturday, current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Khan's successor, warned that "those who have shown anti-state behaviour will be arrested and tried before counter-terrorism courts".
Sharif ordered authorities to identify and arrest all those involved in the violence.