PTI accused of 'smearing' army chief.

LAHORE -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday accused PTI of carrying out a smear campaign against Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir, an allegation the party has denied.

'Disgusting smear campaign of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf against Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, at the behest of Imran Niazi, deserves the strongest condemnation,' the prime minister said in a tweet.

He accused former PM Imran Khan of 'stooping to unprecedented lows in his desperation for power and going to the extent of damaging the country and undermining its armed forces and their leadership'.

The campaign against the COAS was intolerable as it was a continuation of a conspiracy against national institutions, a press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office quoted Shehbaz Sharif as saying.

Mr Sharif urged overseas Pakistanis to raise their voice against the 'foreign-funded' campaign. He cautioned them against 'becoming part of a dirty political game being played through expatriates'.

The prime minister said Imran Khan was violating the constitution by dragging national institutions and their leadership into his 'dirty' politics.

He instructed the interior minister to deal firmly with those running the 'vilification campaign against institutions'.

Shehbaz Sharif warned of 'strict legal action' against those fanning chaos and subversion in the country. A campaign against an army chief appointed purely on merit for the first time in the country's history could only be an agenda of 'anti-Pakistan elements', he added.

'The whole nation stands by its institutions and is united against miscreants.'

PTI reaction

However, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed that his party has nothing to do with any slanderous campaign against the...