PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday declared illegal Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) protests during which party activists blocked the Nato supply route in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and forcibly stopped and searched trucks, DawnNews reported.

A two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain heard the petition filed by local trader Haji Lal Mohammad against the forced inspection of Afghanistan-bound cargo trucks by activists of PTI and its allied parties.

During the hearing, the court said the government should ensure the protection of human rights and freedom.

Moreover, the court said the stopping and checking of vehicles during the protests was illegal.

PTI chief Imran Khan has long opposed the US campaign of drone attacks targeting Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal areas and the stated objective of the protests was to stop US drone strikes in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and force both the federal government and the Taliban to start talks to restore peace in the region.

He had intensified his rhetoric after a US drone strike killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud on Nov 1.

Khan said the attack that killed Hakimullah was a deliberate attempt by Washington to sabotage efforts towards peace talks with the militants who have killed thousands in a six-year-long campaign of violence.