The Second Lockdown — April 19–26
A second round of talks was expected in Islamabad from about April 19, 2026. It never took place, but Pakistan sealed the city again, this time for a full week. The reporting on this second lockdown is more detailed than for the first. It shows the security plan that is available for the Serena when the state wants it sealed.
The hotels emptied again
- On April 19, clearance began at both the Serena and the Marriott. Guests were told to leave by 3 PM that Sunday (ProPakistani; Dawn).
- Reuters saw rolls of barbed wire and a heavy police presence near the Serena that Sunday. The Serena told remaining guests they had to leave "due to a government event" and stopped taking reservations (Al Arabiya / Reuters).
- The National reported that the Serena was held for the U.S. side until Saturday and the Marriott for the Iranian side until Friday (The National).
- Hostels, guest houses and inns in the twin cities were ordered to close, with legal action threatened for any that stayed open (Gulf News; Pakistan Today).
The photo at right shows what a sealed stretch of Constitution Avenue looks like: Islamabad riot police in a shield line near the Supreme Court, on the same avenue as the Serena. It was taken in 2017 after a court verdict, not during the talks. No freely licensed photo of the 2026 cordon exists yet; the news galleries are linked on News Coverage.
Photo: Nasir Mahmood, Voice of America, 20 April 2017, public domain — Commons.
One gate in, one door to the hotel
The Pakistan Observer published the access plan (Pakistan Observer):
- The Red Zone was closed to the public. Authorised personnel could enter only through Margalla Gate.
- The Diplomatic Enclave could be reached only through Gates 1 and 7.
- The Serena could be reached only through its front entrance, with strict limits on people and vehicles from the evening of April 19.
- Srinagar Highway, the Islamabad Expressway, Club Road and the internal Red Zone roads were affected.
Roads, rooftops and snipers
- Dawn reported that the Red Zone and the Extended Red Zone were closed to all traffic, with about 67 barrier points around the High Security Zone. An oil tanker was parked across the Expressway near Zero Point, and 14 Expressway bridges and loops were watched (Dawn, April 20).
- Rangers were posted on 33 rooftops, and Rawalpindi deployed 100 to 130 snipers (Dawn; Gulf News).
- Rawalpindi set up 600 special pickets at its entry and exit points, with round-the-clock Safe City camera monitoring. Container vendors were put on standby to block roads (Gulf News).
- The Expressway was fully closed from Koral to Zero Point, and the Red Line Metro bus was suspended (Pakistan Today).
- About 18,000 personnel were deployed, and police on duty were barred from using mobile phones (Pakistan Today).
Government offices went home
Ministries and federal offices inside the Red Zone were told to work from home, and schools and private offices moved online (Pakistan Today). On April 22 Dawn reported that public entry to the Red Zone had stayed sealed since Sunday, with access limited to critical officials and army patrols on the streets (Dawn, April 22).
The cost of holding it
With no talks under way, Reuters reported on April 24 that large parts of the city were still sealed. Bus terminals had been shut for five to six days, and trucks carrying fresh produce were stuck outside the perimeter (Express Tribune / Reuters). On April 25, when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited, the Red Zone was again closed to all traffic under helicopter surveillance (Dawn gallery).
Lifted April 26
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announced on April 26 that traffic restrictions around the Serena and the Red Zone had been lifted (Dawn; Radio Pakistan). The full sequence is on the timeline.
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