Gulf Today

TLP frees 11 cops taken hostage after protests

- Tariq Butt / Agence France-presse

LAHORE: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced on Monday that ater the first round of talks with the recently proscribed Tehrik-eLabbaik Pakistan (TLP), 11 policemen who were taken hostage in Lahore have been released.

The officers were grabbed and taken as hostages during the latest violent clashes between police and TLP protesters in Lahore. A video circulatin­g on social media, confirmed by a police source, showed some of them bloodied and bruised, with bandages around their heads.

“Talks have started with the TLP. The first round went well and the second will take place ater Sehri,” Rashid said in a video message. “They have released 11 policemen who were made hostages and have gone into the Yateem Khana Chowk Lahore mosque. The police have also stepped back.”

The minister expressed the hope that the rest of the maters would be resolved with the TLP in the second round of talks. “These negotiatio­ns were held successful­ly by the Punjab government. We hope that the second meeting ater sehri will also prove fruiful and maters will be resolved amicably with the TLP,” he added.

In a statement, a spokespers­on for the Lahore police said that Lahore police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar had participat­ed in the operation to free the officials. “Police contingent­s as well as Rangers have been deployed at sensitive areas across the city.”

Calls for a nationwide strike in solidarity with the TLP has been widely supported by mainstream religious groups.

Muti Muneebur Rehman, former chairman of the Ruet-e-hilal Commitee, has announced a nationwide strike against the government’s handling of the situation in Lahore and asked that businesses remain closed on Monday. He also appealed to all political parties to support the strike call.

Jamiat Ulema-e-islam-fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana

Fazlur Rehman also announced that he fully supported Muneebur Rehman’s call for strike.

On Monday, shops and markets in Lahore and Karachi were closed and some transport services halted.

A source at Punjab governor’s office said the TLP were demanding the release of their leader Saad Rizvi, whose detention last week sparked the protests, and a vote in parliament on the expulsion of the French ambassador, while a government wants an end to the repeated unrest.

 ?? Reuters ?? ↑
Paramilita­ry soldiers stand guard on a road during a protest by supporters of the banned Tehrik-e-labaik Pakistan party in Lahore on Sunday.
Reuters ↑ Paramilita­ry soldiers stand guard on a road during a protest by supporters of the banned Tehrik-e-labaik Pakistan party in Lahore on Sunday.

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