Dr Yasmin, Shireen Mazari, Amir Dogar arrested.

LAHORE: Two more senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid and Dr Shireen Mazari were arrested in Lahore and Islamabad, respectively, in the wee hours of Friday. The arrests are the latest in an ongoing crackdown against the party leadership. Top PTI leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Asad Umar and Omer Cheema, were taken into custody within 24 hours and transferred to Adiala Jail under detention for 15 days following countrywide protests against former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest. The security personnel rounded up over 1,800 PTI leaders and supporters since the protests began on Tuesday when Imran was arrested from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises. However, the Supreme Court ordered his immediate release on Thursday evening in the Al-Qadir Trust case. The Islamabad police spokesperson had confirmed the arrests, adding that Imran's spokesperson Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, her husband Jamshed Cheema, Malika Bukhari and Senator Falaknaz had also been taken into custody under Section 3 of the MPO and transferred to Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi under 15-day detention.

However, the arrests of Dr Yasmin Rashid and Dr Shireen Mazari have come after the country witnessed a break in the violent protests as the PTI hailed the Supreme Court's verdict to release their party chairman. "The leadership of the PTI will decide the next political course of action after consultation. The PTI believes in peaceful political struggle. The PTI hopes that all...