ISLAMABAD: A massive traffic jam brought the main entry point of the federal capital to a complete standstill after the convoy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was halted by law enforcement authorities near Islamabad. The blockade resulted in severe gridlock on the motorway leading into the city, with frustrated commuters reporting long queues of vehicles stretching nearly 10 kilometres.
Hundreds of passengers, including families and commercial transporters, remained stranded for hours as a tense standoff developed between the provincial leadership and federal capital police over the designated travel route.
The bottleneck emerged from a sharp disagreement regarding the convoy’s destination route toward Adiala. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi remained adamant about utilising the Grand Trunk (GT) Road to reach his destination. Conversely, the Islamabad Police insisted that the convoy divert and utilise the alternative route via the Chakri Interchange, which directly links to the Adiala area, citing security protocol and traffic management protocols. The deadlock between the two sides left the primary arterial link paralysed, creating immense chaos for incoming traffic from the motorway side.
As the standoff prolonged, trapped travellers voiced intense frustration over the lack of moving traffic and the compounding delays. Local traffic police personnel deployed to the scene attempted to manage the escalating crisis by manually diverting civilian vehicles toward alternative entry points, though the sheer volume of gridlocked traffic severely hindered their efforts. Authorities have urged citizens to avoid the motorway entry point until negotiations conclude and the provincial convoy clears the thoroughfare.
