Watch | Pakistan Army Lahore Corps Commander's shocking video surfaces during PTI protests

An unsettling footage of Pakistan Army Lahore Corps Commander, Lt Gen. Salman Fayyaz Ghanni "begging" the angry crowd of protesters not to torch his official residence has shocked the internet. The footage comes as the PTI demonstrators wreaked violence and destruction across streets of the neighbouring country, setting ablaze the residences of the Army officials, looting and vandalising the buildings.

As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was detained by Paramilitary Rangers, his supporters stormed into Pakistan Army Lahore Corps Commander's official residence and ransacked the property. Lieutenant General Salman Fayyaz Ghani is seen in the shocking visuals requesting the mob not to cause destruction in the Jinnah House – the residence of the Lahore Corps Commander. 

Shortly after Khan's detention, rumours spread that Lt Gen. Salman Fayyaz Ghanni had fled his home along with his family. Infuriated supporters of the former premier of Pakistan, armed with lathis, stormed buildings in the military's cantonment areas across different cities, including Lahore, to protest against Imran Khan's arrest. Jinnah House is the place where the Lahore Corps Commander and his family reside in Pakistan. As the protesters entered Ghanni's house, the latter emerged in civilian clothing and appealed to them not to burn the house down. Regardless, protesters torched the residence, looted and ransacked the property by breaching the compounds. 

#BREAKING | Real face of Pakistan Army exposed, Pak Army's cowardice caught on camera#Pakistan #ImranKhan #PakArmy #PTI #ShehbazSharif pic.twitter.com/ZTOnVRjsZR

— Republic (@republic) May 12, 2023

'Shocking' Pakistan's most powerful Army General pleading mob

“The footage was filmed during the exact moment that the residence of Pakistan’s top Army official was raided,” Islamabad reporter for the Republic Media network, Kaswar said, detailing the explosive footage. “It is disappointing to witness that one of Pakistan’s most powerful Army Generals is seen pleading before the bandits—the mob.” What’s crucial to note, is that the “mob” that is about to torch the residence belongs to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, according to Kawar. And so, Pakistan’s Army is really angry and all of the people supporting Imran Khan, Kawar further noted.

He is not even an ordinary Army General but the Corps Commander of Lahore, and that makes it very, very shocking. It turned out very disappointing how the most powerful Corps Commander Lt Gen. was pleading before workers of PTI workers, Kawar said.

The fact that his house was set on fire, goes to depict how PTI workers and activists 'have been on a rampage,' the latter told Republic.

It is to be noted that Pakistan's Lieutenant General Salman Fayyaz Ghani has been fired from his position and has been replaced by Lieutenant General Fayyaz Hussain Shah as Corps Commander Lahore. Shah had previously served as Inspector General Arms at GHQ (Rawalpindi). After the visual of his house being ransacked went viral, a comprehensive and critical inquiry was opened into the May 9 incident at Jinnah House. According to Pakistan's local press reports, the country's top general COAS General Syed Asim Munir replaced the serving Lahore Commander, shifting him to General Headquarters.

'Army disrespected by naming military officer who tried to kill me twice?' Imran Khan

Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been accusing sitting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and the senior Army intelligence official Major-General Faisal Naseer, of plotting to kill him. Khan strengthened his claims and published the most vocal criticism of the country's powerful military since he survived an assassination attempt last year while he was giving a speech in Wazirabad, Punjab. Islamabad's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) rejected Khan's accusations of the armed forces as “irresponsible and baseless allegations". Khan released a video before he headed for the hearing of his cases in Islamabad High Court, responding to ISPR's allegations about defaming the country's military. 

He noted that the ISPR and “PDM and their handlers” have been trying to get him arrested and eventually get murdered. "ISPR has issued a statement that the institution has been disrespected — the army has been disrespected [by] naming an intelligence officer that has tried to kill me twice. ISPR sahib, listen to me carefully. Respect is not [confined] to a single institution; respect should be for every single citizen," Khan said in the recorded visuals. Pakistan's ex-premier said that the military officer in question is such a “powerful personality” that he was unable to register a case. “My question is: [Despite being] a country’s ex-prime minister — because this man’s name has come forward — [why was] I unable to register a first information report (FIR)?” Khan asked. 

My reply to ISPR & attempts by PDM & their handlers to arrest me for two reasons: 1. To prevent me from campaigning bec InshaAllah when elections are announced I will be doing jalsas. 2. To prevent me from mobilising the masses for street movement in support of Constitution if… pic.twitter.com/IQIQmFERah

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 9, 2023

“This man tried to kill me twice and whenever an investigation is carried out, I will prove that it was this man and there is a whole gang with him,” Imran Khan asserted. Shortly, he was arrested.