LAHORE: Leaders of Pakistan’s Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) vowed to defy a ban and go ahead with a mass protest in the eastern city of Lahore Sunday, just hours after officials cracked down on the group.
Since launching three months ago, the PTM has rattled the powerful military with a nationwide campaign calling for an end to extrajudicial killings, “disappearances” and other abuses by police and troops.
Despite a far-reaching media blackout the movement has drawn tens of thousands of supporters to their protests in one of the strongest challenges to Pakistan’s security establishment for years.
Late Saturday officials in Lahore detained PTM leaders along with representatives of the Awami Workers Party and student activists following raids on Punjab University and a hotel.
A local police official confirmed the incident but said the activists have since been released.
The crackdown sparked anger on social media with the hashtags #ReleasePTMWorkers and #ShameOnPunjabPolice gaining traction.
PTM supporters from across the country have flocked to Lahore in recent days before the anticipated rally.
The movement’s leader Manzoor Pastheen vowed to continue with the demonstration even after authorities refused to provide the necessary documentation, citing “security circumstances.”
“We won’t stay silent. We will hold the rally at any cost,” said Pastheen in a message posted early Sunday.
The PTM came to prominence in February after the killing of a young social media star in Karachi unleashed festering anger at authorities over the alleged targeting of Pashtuns in the country’s long war on militancy.
The military has accused the PTM of colluding with arch-rival India and overseeing a campaign to destabilize the country.
Criticism of Pakistan’s powerful armed forces, especially their counter-insurgency operations, is largely seen as a step too far.
However, the PTM argues that Pashtuns have bore the brunt of the long fight against terrorism.
The “Pashtun belt” in the northwest bordering Afghanistan has suffered severely from militant violence for over a decade as the Afghan war split over the border, leading to repeated military operations in the region.
Pashtuns account for roughly 15 percent of the population, with a majority of the 30 million-strong group living in the northwest.
Pakistan Pashtun activists vow to hold banned Lahore rally
Pakistan Pashtun activists vow to hold banned Lahore rally
- The PTM came to prominence in February after the killing of a young social media star in Karachi unleashed festering anger at authorities over the alleged targeting of Pashtuns
- The military has accused the PTM of colluding with arch-rival India and overseeing a campaign to destabilize the country
UK defense minister suggests Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ behind Iran tactics
LONDON: UK Defense Minister John Healey suggested on Thursday that Russia was influencing Iran’s use of drone attacks in its war with the United States and Israel.
Healey said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” may be behind some of the tactics deployed by Tehran in the Middle East conflict, which started when the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
He told reporters that officials were analyzing an Iranian-made drone that hit the UK’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus on March 1 “for any evidence of Russian or any other foreign components and parts.”
“We will update you and appropriately publish any findings from that when we’ve got them,” he said during a visit to Britain’s military headquarters in Northwood, near London.
“But I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well, not least because one world leader that is benefiting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin,” he added.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, with the two agreeing last year to help each other counter “common threats.”
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he had no indication Russia was supporting Iran in the war, but that if they were, it was not “helping much.”
Nick Perry, the British military’s chief of joint operations, told Healey there were “definitively” signs of a link between Russia and Iran, including Iran’s use of drones “as learned from the Russians.”
No one was injured when the drone hit a hangar at Akrotiri. British warplanes shot down a further two drones heading for the base the same day.
Guy Foden, a brigadier in the British army, briefed Healey that UK troops based at a military base housing international coalition troops in Irbil, Iraq, had helped shoot down two Iranian drones on Wednesday.
