Pakistan army deployed in Islamabad after protest bloodshed on highway to capital
Protests erupted across Pakistan on Saturday after security forces launched an early-morning crackdown on thousands of religious demonstrators
Pakistan’s government has called on the powerful military to deploy in the capital Islamabad after deadly unrest broke out when police moved to dislodge an Islamist protest that has paralysed the city for weeks.
At least six people were killed and some 190 injured – around 137 of whom were security personnel – in fierce clashes as police tried to disperse the demonstration earlier Saturday.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets and demonstrators blocked roads and burned police vehicles around the site of the sit-in. As the violence intensified, protests sprouted in the major cities of Lahore and Karachi, as well as smaller towns across the country.
“According to figures we have, at least six people were killed in violence today,” Deeba Shahnaz, a spokeswoman for the Provincial Rescue department, said. A security official also confirmed the death toll.
Authorities had been attempting to clear a relatively small protest by the little-known hardline group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLYRAP) that has blocked a main highway into Islamabad since November 6, causing hours-long traffic snarls and enraging citizens.
