Imran Khan Supporters Detained

Pakistani police detained at least two dozen supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan as they tried to rally in the country's biggest city ahead of elections next month.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has been severely hamstrung ahead of the February 8 poll, with rallies banned, its party symbol taken away, and dozens of its candidates rejected from eligibility to stand. 

Rights groups have warned the national and provincial elections lack credibility, with the powerful military accused of trying to influence the vote.

PTI officials urged supporters to rally across the country despite police withdrawing or declining permission for the gatherings to take place.

Around 2,000 gathered in Karachi, the bustling southern port city of over 20 million people on the Arabian Sea, where about two dozen PTI supporters were detained by police and taken away in trucks.

PTI media advisor Zulfiqar Bukhari said there had also been arrests in Rawalpindi -- the sprawling garrison city neighboring the capital, Islamabad -- as well as in other parts of Punjab, the country's most populous province.

Police officials said they had no information on arrests.

The election has largely been a lackluster affair so far, with few mass rallies -- a combination of party inaction, voter apathy, and the cold winter weather.

Three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is expected to take the most seats, has barely been seen on the campaign trail, although Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who heads the other major dynastic political group, the Pakistan People's Party, has been more visible. 

Much of the action has taken place in the country's courts, which for months have been at the center of battles by politicians and parties challenging everything from the use of election symbols to the eligibility of candidates to run for office.