Pakistani police fired tear gas and attacked protesters in Karachi

Pakistani police fired tear gas and batons at thousands of protesters in Karachi on Sunday after demonstrators tried to break through a security barricade.

Around 2,000 supporters of a far-right Islamist party tried to reach the city’s press club to oppose another demonstration by civil society groups against the killing of a blasphemy suspect while in custody.

Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party threw stones at officers and set fire to a patrol car when police prevented them from reaching the press club.

The party said one of its members died in the violence. Police arrested around 20 people at both demonstrations.

Provincial Interior Minister Zia Ul Hassan said authorities feared clashes as both the political party and civil society groups had called for protests on the same day.

Ul Hassan condemned the violence, particularly in light of an upcoming security summit in Islamabad and the deadly attack on a convoy of Chinese nationals outside the city’s airport last week.

The TLP supports Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, which impose the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.