The banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has been holding violent protests in Pakistan on and off since 2017, and policemen have fallen victim to the group’s violence. As per latest reports, three policemen were killed and many injured in clashes with the banned TLP near Sadhoke, Gujranwala on Wednesday. Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said that the TLP workers used Kalashnikovs against the policemen. He also confirmed the policemen’s deaths.
Last year, the group launched a series of protests against blasphemous caricatures made in France, asking the Pakistan government to expel the French ambassador from the country. In April this year, the group launched protests when its chief Saad Rizvi was arrested. A total of eight policemen have been killed by the outlawed group since April this year. It is important to note that all slain policemen have not duly been named and acknowledged by the government.
In April when the National Assembly met to discuss the law and order situation in the country in light of the TLP protests that had erupted after the outfit’s chief Saad Rizvi’s arrest, lawmakers offered fateha for the TLP workers killed in clashes with the police. The policemen killed in the violence were forgotten by the National Assembly.
The identity of all policemen killed by the TLP is not known, but some of the names made public are being published below.
One of the slain policemen killed earlier today (Wednesday) include M. Akbar who served as an Assistant Sub Inspector Kasur. The identity of the other two policemen who lost their lives today could not be immediately ascertained.
Earlier on Friday, three policemen, identified as Ayub and Khalid, were crushed to death by vehicles of workers who were part of the banned outfit’s ongoing protest. The identity of the third slain cop killed that day could not be ascertained.
In April this year, the TLP held similar violent protests in which five policemen were killed in clashes with the outfit’s workers. The slain cops who lost their lives in the April clashes include Ali Imran, Dilbar Hussain and Shafqat Ali. The identity of the other two policemen killed in April could not be ascertained.
