In Pictures

Pakistan police move to end anti-blasphemy protests

The protests had erupted after the Pakistani parliament approved an amendment to the electoral law on October 2.

A demonstrator detained by a policeman gestures near the Faizabad junction in Islamabad, Pakistan. [Caren Firouz/Reuters]

26 Nov 2017

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik on Sunday clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, burning vehicles before withdrawing to a protest camp they have occupied for more than two weeks.

According media reports at least six people were killed on the previous day, when several thousand policemen and paramilitary forces tried to disperse a sit-in protest by anti-blasphemy protesters, who have blocked the main route into the capital from the neighboring garrison city of Rawalpindi.

More than 125 people were wounded in Saturday’s crackdown, and police superintendent Amir Niazi said 80 members of the security forces were among the casualties.

On Sunday morning, smoke billowed from the charred remains of a car and three motorcycles near the protest camp, where several thousand members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party have gathered in defiance.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, accusing the justice minister of blasphemy against Islam and demanding his dismissal and arrest.