TLP protesters begin march in Lahore; clashes with police reported

US advises citizens to avoid large gatherings

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) began its protest march in Lahore on Friday, with the plan to reach Islamabad and hold an anti-Israeli demonstration outside the US embassy there.

According to media reports, on Friday evening that the protesters were trying to remove obstacles at the city’s Chauburji Chowk and march ahead. A statement by Edhi spokesperson Younis Bhatti said several policemen had been injured in clashes with TLP protesters. The statement added that Edhi volunteers moved the injured personnel to various hospitals in the city.

Meanwhile, TLP spokesperson Usman Naushahi said that one of the protesters had died and 22 were injured. Ahead of the march, without naming the TLP, the US embassy in Islamabad posted on social media platform X that “the US consulates general in Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar are monitoring planned protest activity across Pakistan on October 10”. “These protests may cause traffic delays/detours due to closed or blocked roads in the vicinity of the demonstrations. The duration of the protests is unknown. We advise US citizens to avoid large gatherings and remain aware of their surroundings,” the embassy said in the post.

After the protest began, Minister of State for Interior Affairs Tallal Chaudhry slammed the TLP for violence during its protest in Lahore, stating that mob politics no longer had a place in Pakistan. “I will give the media footage showing them using sticks, chemicals, glass balls and tennis balls with nails lodged in them,” he added. “They fire these at police and Rangers personnel like slingshots and have injured over a dozen of them. “This mob, numbering under 2,000, left their central office in Samanabad and headed towards Ravi Road via Bund Road. They successfully made it because the police did not use force,” the minister said. “There were some blockades, but force was not used.” “The gunmen guarding the DIG overseeing the operation or [security measures] were also unarmed,” he added. Before the march began, roads in Islamabad were blocked and mobile internet services suspended. In anticipation of the protest, the Islamabad administration had also started placing shipping containers at Faizabad Interchange — the historic site of several TLP sit-ins. Monitoring Desk