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Islamabad Locks Down Red Zone for USIran Talks

Pakistan seeks to cement a fragile ceasefire by hosting direct dialogue.

Overview

  • Police rolled out sweeping security on Friday with the Red Zone sealed to all but authorized personnel and more than 5,000 officers staffing hundreds of checkpoints.
  • Authorities closed routes to Nur Khan Airbase with shipping containers and barbed wire, isolating Shah Khalid Colony, Gulzar‑e‑Quaid, Airport Housing Society and nearby areas.
  • The traffic plan shuts the Expressway between Zero Point, Faisal Avenue and Koral Chowk, bans heavy vehicles citywide and posts diversions that Islamabad Police shared in a video on X.
  • Public transport was curtailed or suspended in parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, leaving many residents confined to homes and reporting difficulty getting food, water and medicines.
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi led a security review and launched an Interior Ministry control room, with talks scheduled Saturday after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif invited both delegations.