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
Cuba says a 5th person died after people on a Florida-flagged speedboat opened fire on soldiers
- Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops
- The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities
HAVANA: Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.
The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”
Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.
“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”
Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.
Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.
The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
