When the Lahore police stormed TLP HQ’s, violence erupted.
Violence swept through Lahore on Wednesday as Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters clashed with police, leaving civilians caught in the chaos. Witnesses saw groups of TLP members confronting officers with stones and sticks, while police responded with tear gas to control the situation. The action came in the wake of some heavy-handed police operations carried out to arrest the party chief, Saad Rizvi, from the party headquarters on Multan Road.
Eye witnesses said that Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters attacked police officers with stones, clubs, and iron rods, injuring at least three constables during the operation. Police responded with tear-gas shelling to push back the crowd, and the clashes turned sections of Multan Road into a battleground.
Social media also offers plenty of videos from scenes of mayhem as TLP activists ran for cover, with clouds of tear gas all around. Several videos captured protesters holding up spent bullet casings and tear-gas shells as they accused police of firing them during the assault.. Shouting and intermittent firing from time to time poured out into the nearby neighborhoods which extended well over midnight.
The police operation came short after TLP announced plans of conducting a mega anti-Israel rally in Islamabad this Friday outside the US Embassy. Anticipating possible unrest, the Islamabad administration had already begun placing shipping containers and barricades at Faizabad Interchange, the site of several previous TLP sit-ins that had paralyzed the capital.
The TLP leaders condemned in a statement early Thursday morning the action of the police, alleging that many of the party workers were arrested due to overnight raids. The group also accused authorities of targeting supporters’ homes and promised to continue its protest campaign despite the crackdown.
According to police sources, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik had summoned a large crowd to Lahore before the protest, with many of them erecting makeshift tents close to the party’s main office. When the police moved in for the raid, these bands would have reportedly attacked the police personnel simultaneously.
Eye witnesses claimed that the mayhem continued for few hours, both TLP and police locked in a mutual denial to back down. As of now, there were still continuing intermittent conflict, and police had been summoned in to ensure the peace situation remained under control in the area. The city remained tense all the night as the authorities remained alert to the inevitable tipping point of further escalation.
Source: DAWN NEWS
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