In the morning of May 17, 2022, crowds of people were still protesting in the neighborhoods and security forces were continuing to paralyze public life, probably intending to avoid people gathering for a central protest event in the city center. The main roads and bridges within the town, as well as the roads connecting Khorugh with the surrounding districts and Dushanbe were blocked by military. Schools and public entities were closed and the internet connection continued to be disabled.
In the afternoon of May 17, 2022, Pamir Daily News reported that a convoy of military vehicles was moving from Dushanbe in direction of Khorugh. According to a source of political scientist Andrey Serenko, local youth was blocking the road in Vomar (Rushan district, GBAO) and preventing the military convoy from passing by in the afternoon of May 17, 2022.
The newspaper and news portal Asia-Plus, the most important among the few independent media outlets in Tajikistan, announced that it would refrain from reporting comprehensively about events in GBAO. The editorial board admitted having received warnings from the public prosecutor and other state organs which criticised that the Asia-Plus coverage of events in GBAO was one-sided and contributed to destabilising the country, and threatened the media outlet with close-down in case this was not corrected.
In a press release published by the Ministry of the Interior, the renowned journalist and civil society activist Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva and the exiled oppositional politician Alim Sherzamonov were blamed for organizing the demonstration on May 16, 2022. In a call to the international community, diaspora civil society activists from GBAO deemed this a "false allegation" and warned of Mamadshoeva being "in imminent danger of arrest, which is likely to result in lengthy imprisonment". In the afternoon of May 17, 2022, several journalists in Dushanbe were attacked by unidentified persons after interviewing Mamadshoeva. Their technical equipment was grabbed, including the one which contained the interview recording. The attack was strongly condemned by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and CEO Jamie Fly.