Pakistan's Imran Khan govt deploys paramilitary troops to stop TLP march; three killed

The Pakistan government deployed more than 500 personnel of paramilitary forces and a contingent of 1,000 frontier personnel in order to stop any untoward incident during a protest march announced by the proscribed hardline Islamist group -- Tehreek-i-Labbik Pakistan (TLP). According to the reports of Dawn, the march was planned for Islamabad against the detention of its chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi. The media reports said that the banned Islamist group has also announced a "Plan B" if their people were stopped from protesting and if the demands were not met by the Pakistani government. 

"The peaceful Namoos-i-Risalat march of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan towards Islamabad will start after Friday prayers" from the TLP's Markaz (headquarters), the statement said, adding that the group also had a "plan B" in case its members were stopped from marching on the capital, Dawn newspaper reported.

Have a look at the protest video:

Further, the media report said that the capital administration approached the Pakistan interior ministry to seek personnel of Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary (FC). According to the reports, security personnel were being deployed in and around Red Zone and the Faizabad Interchange. Apart from these, the Pakistani government has deployed a contingent of 200 police personnel at the entry points in the city. It also said at least 1,400 police personnel were deployed at different locations, including Faizabad and Red Zone.

It is worth mentioning that the hundreds of TLP workers have been protesting against the detention of Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi, the son of its late founder Khadim Rizvi. They also had held a sit-in protest in Lahore. However, the decision to call for a protest came after the government failed to convince the TLP leads at the negotiations table held in Lahore. Notably, the younger Rizvi has been kept in detention by the Punjab government since April 12 for "maintenance of public order". 

3 policemen killed during clash with TLP workers

In a statement released after a failed negotiation between the proscribed hardline Islamist group and Imran Khan-led government, TLP's Majlis-i-Shura (executive council) had decried that the group's members had been staging a "peaceful protest" in the streets for the past 15 days, yet their demand for the implementation of an agreement reached between them and the government earlier this year remained unmet. As per the latest update, at least three Pakistani policemen were killed and several others suffered injuries in clashes with workers of a banned Islamist group in Lahore.

With inputs from ANI

Image: PTI/AP