Islamabad, Oct 13: At least five people, including a police officer, were killed and dozens of officers injured when thousands of members of a radical Islamist group clashed with security personnel on Monday in Pakistan’s Punjab province, police said.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had launched its protest from Lahore on Friday with the announcement to march up to the US embassy in Islamabad and give a sit-in in support of the people of Gaza.
Ironically, the group decided to protest for Gaza when the war had ended and a truce had been agreed, and the people of Gaza were celebrating peace.
The protesters succeeded in reaching Murdike, about 40 km from Lahore on the Grand Trunk Road, where the police stopped them while their leaders held talks with the authorities.
Apparently, all efforts to convince the protestors ended in a fiasco, and police launched an operation to clear the road and disperse the rioters.
According to police, the operation lasted for about five hours and ended early Monday as protestors armed with nail-sticks, bricks, petrol bombs and even guns fought relentlessly with the law-enforcing personnel.
“One police official was killed and 48 injured, including 17 who got gun wounds,” a police official said, adding that one civilian and three protesters were also killed, while another eight were injured.
Punjab Police claimed that the protesters set fire to 40 government and private vehicles, while law-enforcing agencies arrested several protestors. Pictures shared on social media showed several burnt vehicles littered at the scene of the operation.
TLP supporters took to the streets to protest at different places, and the M2 Motorway, which runs from Islamabad to Lahore, was blocked at Faizpur, Kala Shah and Babu Sabu near Lahore.
According to the Motorway Police spokesperson, the M1 Motorway, which runs from Peshawar to Islamabad, is open, but heavy traffic is currently prohibited on it.
In the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, major roads were open except at a few places, but the authorities had placed shipping containers along the roads to close them immediately if the protestors tried to move towards Islamabad.
TLP rose to prominence in 2017 when it launched a successful protest and forced the government to reverse its decisions regarding changes in the oath for parliamentarians. (PTI)
