Enraged protesters stage countrywide sit-ins after Islamabad operation
November 26, 2017
KARACHI: Protesters belonging to a religious group continued to stage sit-ins and block roads in various cities after security forces started operation to disperse the Islamabad sit-in on Saturday.
Protests held in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resulted in at least one death and left dozens injured, besides the 250 injuries reported in Islamabad.
Traffic jams were seen in various cities, resulting in commuters and ambulances being stuck for hours.
In Punjab, protesters blocked roads and faced off with security forces in Multan, Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Jelum, Rahim Yar Khan and other cities.
One person was reported dead and seven were injured when protesters attacked a police station in Hafizabad.
Two policemen were injured in skirmishes with enraged protestors in Gujranwala.
In Lahore, protests took an ugly turn on Saturday when demonstrators blocked major roads such as Mall Road and set a vehicle on fire at Shahdara Chowk. They also blocked railway tracks in the area.
Shahdara Chowk, Mall Road remain blocked today.
Bus services suspended
Commuters face severe mobility issues as public bus services as well the Speedo Bus Service in Multan and Lahore remained suspended for the second day.
Metro Bus Service in Multan and Rawalpindi is also not functional.
Manshera, Swat, Mardan in KP as well as Mirpur Azad were also affected by sit-ins.
Activists of the religious group also blocked roads and held protests across Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Badin and Sukkur.
As of Saturday, at least 30 people were reported injured in different incidents across Karachi after demonstrations sprung up following Islamabad operation.
At least 250 people — including 90 police and FC personnel — were wounded during the clashes between protesters and security forces in Islamabad.
The protests are being held against the change in the finality-of-Prophethood oath in the law when the government passed the Elections Act 2017 last month.
The change — dubbed a clerical error by the government — was immediately fixed as an amendment was passed later.
