Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who turned 71 on Thursday, masterminded the May 9 violence and planned the attacks on sensitive military installations with an aim to remove Army Chief General Asim Munir, his close aide Usman Dar has said.

Dar, regarded as one of Khan’s trusted aides, had reportedly gone underground after unrest broke out in Pakistan following the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief’s arrest by paramilitary Rangers on May 9, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Dozens of military and state buildings, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, were torched and vandalised by many PTI activists during the unprecedented violence that broke out after Khan’s arrest.

Dar, who served as the head of the PTI’s Tiger Force, an organisation comprising young volunteers, was allegedly “abducted” a couple of weeks ago by intelligence agencies from the country’s Sindh province. He re-emerged on Wednesday, levelling serious allegations against Khan on a TV programme.

The former federal minister claimed that the planning to target sensitive installations in the May 9 violence was done in a meeting chaired by Khan. He added that the former Prime Minister and some other party leaders, including Senator Azam Swati and former ministers Murad Saeed and Farukh Habib, had decided to target the military installations if the Pakistan Rangers arrested Khan.

“[At the meetings at Khan’s Lahore residence — Zaman Park] it was discussed that we should attack state institutions if needed in order to put pressure on them,” the report quoted Dar as saying.

“Khan also called the party workers, especially from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, at his Lahore’s Zaman Park residence when police attempted to arrest him. He, in fact, mentally prepared them to take on the security agencies,” Dar said.

Dar said that the purpose of the May 9 violence was to exert pressure on the military and remove Gen Munir from his position.

He added that May 9 was merely a date, and the conspiracy against the military had been brewing for a long period, the report said.

Dar added that Khan built a narrative against the Army after he was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion in April 2022.

He also alleged that the long march of October 2022 led by Khan to force the government to announce a date for early general elections was organised to prevent General Munir’s appointment as the army chief.