LAHORE:
In the clashes following twin church bombings on Sunday, seven protesters have been injured, during which stones were pelted at policemen holding up protective plastic shields, resulting in police shelling. The police have been given instructions by the Punjab government to use tear gas to disperse the crowd if need arises.
Pakistan’s minority Christians blocked roads Monday in protest over a pair of Taliban suicide bombings that struck two churches the day before, killing 15 people in the latest attack against religious minorities in this increasingly fractured country.
Scores of them gathered on Ferozepur Road and many protested at Pecco Road, Kalma Chowk, Shama Chowk, Press Club and Thokar Niaz Beg.
The protesters attacked vehicles and smashed windows. They beat up some people who tried to remove the barriers erected by the protesters. At Peco Road, some protesters dragged a driver from a car and beat him with sticks.
The bombings on Sunday occurred during prayers at two churches located around half a kilometre apart in the city’s Youhanabad neighbourhood that is home to more than 100,000 Christians.
Protesters gathered at Faisalabad’s Millat road on Monday where they burnt tires and attacked a rickshaw, sources reported. The protesters also blocked the Kamalpur Interchange on Faisalabad motorway.
Following an attack on a metro bus in Lahore, authorities shortened bus routes on Monday as people continued to protest in various parts of the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province such as Youhanabad, Nishtar Colony and Bund road.