'The match is about to begin': PTI's Ehtesab rally kicks off in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters turned out for the first day of the party's Ehtesab rally on Sunday, which sets out from Peshawar to Attock along Grand Trunk Road.

The streets of Peshawar were packed with supporters from Malakand, Dir, Kohat, Karak and Bannu, with some even flying in from abroad especially to attend the rally and support party chief Imran Khan.

The procession started from Pir Zakori Sharif flyover, where Khan and senior leaders of the party, including members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet, led the march gathered atop a container.

The party tweeted messages from the first speech of the day in Peshawar, saying it was ready for the long haul ahead.

'You have lied'

Addressing the crowd from atop his container, Imran called out, "I ask the assembly and all the parliamentarians: Shouldn't parliamentarians ask Nawaz Sharif why he lied about buying the London apartments in 2005, when we have registries which say they were bought ten years earlier? NAB is only there to catch the small fry."

"You have lied," he said, in an apparent reference to PM Nawaz. "We are starting this rally, and we are all ready."

"Until Nawaz Sharif presents himself for accountability, we will be on the streets to mobilise the masses to protect their own interests," the party said.