Report: Pakistan army called in to end sit-ins
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s government called in army troops Saturday to restore order after police clashed with an Islamist group’s supporters who have been camped out for the past 20 days at a key intersection near the capital, Islamabad, state TV reported. The protest has triggered demonstrators to take to the streets of other cities across the country in solidarity, bringing them to a virtual standstill.
State TV reported that the Interior Ministry said Saturday that army troops had been summoned to assist the city’s civil administration in clearing the Faizabad intersection. It did not specify when the army would be deployed. No army presence was yet visible in the area.
Six people were killed and 200, mostly police, were injured as police tried to clear the intersection linking the Pakistani capital with the garrison city of Rawalpindi, doctors at local hospitals said. The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of a law minister over an omitted reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill.
Dr. Masood Safdar of Benazir Bhutto Hospital said five civilians arrived dead from bullets wounds. Dr. Tariq Niazi of the Holy Family Hospital confirmed the death of a young man who was shot in the head during the violence at the intersection and the surrounding area.
Hundreds of police in riot gear had moved in against the supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party early Saturday after a deadline expired at midnight. The police action and reaction from protesters, who had camped out at the venue for the past 20 days, sent scores of injured police and protesters to hospitals with injuries caused by stoning and respiratory problems from tear gas. Hospital officials said nearly 200 people were injured, most of them police.
News of the police intervention spread quickly, prompting sympathizers in cities across the country to take to the streets in a show of solidarity with the Islamabad protesters. The situation prompted the country’s regulatory body for electronic media to take TV broadcasts off the air. Key social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were also blocked. Government officials were not immediately available for comment on the situation.
Taking note of a worsening situation, military chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa telephoned Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to call for the peaceful handling of the protest, according to a tweet by military spokesman Maj. Gen Asif Ghafoor.
Senior police officer Ismatullah Junejo said police were swiftly clearing the venue as some 300 protesters ignored the final warning to disperse. He said none of the police carried firearms to avoid loss of life, instead using only tear gas and a water cannon to disperse the protesters. But witnesses said at one point a police van came under attack and was set on fire after two police officers aimed assault rifles at protesters.
Police lobbed tear gas canisters and deployed the water cannon while surrounding and arresting dozens of protesters who resisted by throwing rocks. The riot police used batons against protesters who resisted.
The government had made several attempts to resolve the stalemate through negotiations with the protesters, who demanded the resignation of the official over the omitted reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill. The minister, Zahid Hamid, apologized for the omission — a phrase saying that Muhammad is the last prophet in Islam — saying it was a clerical error that was later corrected.