Over 8,000 security personnel took part in the operation against around 2,000 protesters; Over 200 injured.
Islamabad : Clashes on Saturday broke out between security personnel and protesters belonging to a hardline religious groups in the Pakistani capital following a government crackdown, leaving one person dead and over 150 others injured and triggering violence in other cities. The government blacked out all TV channels and blocked popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stem the spiralling violence. The police and paramilitary personnel tried to disperse the protesters who have been blocking main highways leading to the capital Islamabad for more than two weeks to press for the resignation of law minister Zahid Hamid.
The protesters are objecting to changes made in the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat or finality of prophethood oath in the Elections Act 2017 passed in September, alleging the action undermined Islamic beliefs and linked it to blasphemy. The operation was launched after Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued contempt of court notice against Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal for failing to implement orders to clear the roads.
The protesters belonging to Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST) attacked the house of former interior minister Nisar Ali Khan in Faizabad area of Rawalpindi. They damaged the gate of his house and tried to enter the premises, but were prevented by police, official said. Khan is a former
minister and his house is located very close to Fiazabad interchanged which has been occupied by the protesters for almost three weeks. It was not known whether he was present inside the house at the time of attack.
According to a security official, over 8,000 security personnel took part in the operation against around 2,000 protesters.
Hafiz Saeed has ‘blood on his hands’: Ex-CIA Dy director Washington: Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed has “blood on his hands”, and wants to bring extremism into the mainstream politics of Pakistan, a former top American spymaster said on Saturday. The Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) head and LeT founder, who has a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for terror activities, was freed by Pakistan on Friday. “Saeed is a terrorist. Worked with LeT, a Kashmiri militant group, and al-Qaida on attacks,” Michael Morell, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deputy director, who has also served twice as its acting director, said in a tweet. The fire-brand cleric’s release after midnight came ahead of the 9th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed.
Hafiz Saeed ‘postpones’ PC: Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed on Saturday “postponed” a scheduled press conference (PC) he had called to respond to demand by US for his re-arrest after he was released from detention by Pakistan earlier this week. A Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) spokesman, an LeT front Saeed heads, said he had “postponed his scheduled presser following riots in the country in the wake of police action against the activists of Tahreek-i-Labaik Pakistan in Islamabad.”
4 killed, 19 hurt in suicide attack Karachi: At least four people were killed and 19 others injured on Saturday in a suicide attack on security forces in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, officials said, the latest attack on security personnel in the restive region.
Protesters ‘contacted India’, claims Pak interior minister
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal claimed that the hardline religious parties staging protest for than two weeks in Islamabad had “contacted India”, and the government was investigating “why they did it”. Iqbal did not give any details about his claim. In an interview to DawnNews, he said the hundreds of protesters gathered in the national capital were “not simple people”. “We can see that they have various resources at their disposal. They have fired teargas shells [at security forces], they also cut the fibre-optic cables of cameras monitoring their protest,” he told the network. Iqbal claimed protesters had also “contacted India”. “Why they did it, we are looking into it. They have inside information and resources that are being used against the state.”
