ISLAMABAD: The federal police have briefly fired tear gas at protesters who broke through security blockades near the Red Zone in an attempt to demonstrate at the French Embassy against the printing of blasphemous images depicting Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W).
According to details, around 3,000 protesters gathered in Islamabad, about half a kilometre from the fortified Diplomatic Enclave where the French Embassy is located.
The protestors were holding posters and chanted slogans calling for the boycott of French products and denouncing French President Emmanuel Macron for his comments.
Roads leading to the enclave were blocked using shipping containers and barbed wire and were guarded by riot police. However, the protesters managed to climb over the blockades, prompting police to fire tear gas.
Talking to an international news agency, a police official said, “We needed to fire tear gas shells when the protesters tried to violate their agreement.” In this regard, the protesters hurled stones at police vehicles and vandalised a police post. They also set fire to plants in a forest opposite the Serena Hotel.
During the clash, the police informed, no one was injured and protesters later moved back towards a gathering spot originally agreed with the authorities.
The protest was organised by a traders’ association, which has already announced that it would take French products off shelves across the country. Activists of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and other religious groups also attended the demonstration.
Muslims around the world have protested against France and its President, who has vowed to stand firm against what he described as attacks on French values and freedom of expression by radical Islamists.
