Islamabad protesters clash with security forces for second day

ISLAMABAD: Defiant activists of a religious group clashed with security forces for a second day on the outskirts of the capital, burning a number of vehicles.

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 Ya Rasool Allah have gathered.

Police and paramilitary personnel have surrounded the protest site at the Faizabad Interchange connecting Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi, but no army troops were on the scene, despite a call the previous day by the civilian government for the military to help restore order.

Activists from Tehreek-e-Labaik have blocked the main road into the capital for two weeks, demanding resignation of law minister for allegedly being responsible for now-withdrawn change to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath for electoral candidates.

After expiry of a deadline given to the protesters in Islamabad, the law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown on Saturday morning to evict the demonstrators.

Islamabad police along with the personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies had launched crackdown against the protesters who have camped out at the Faizabad Interchange for over two weeks. Hospital sources say at least five people were killed while 188 others were injured during the operation.

The government  shut social media and asked cable operators to shut news channels across Pakistan after the protest spread to several other cities of the country.