AHORE, Pakistan, (Dispatches) - Four Pakistani police were killed and hundreds wounded when Pakistani Muslims clashed with security forces at a anti-blasphemy demonstration near the eastern city of Lahore, officials said.
The clash broke out at a rally on a highway in Sheikhupura, just outside Lahore, as the people prepared to march on the capital Islamabad, a spokesman for the Punjab police said on Wednesday.
Police said some people armed with pistols and automatic weapons including AK-47 rifles opened fire on security forces controlling the demonstrators.
Rao Sardar Ali Khan, inspector general of the Punjab police, said four officers and some of the protestors were killed and at least 263 wounded.
Thousands protestors have been blocking Pakistan’s busiest highway since Friday, demanding the expulsion of France’s ambassador over the publication of a series of caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammad by a French satirical magazine.
After days of tension, including a clash last week in which three police officers were killed, the Interior Ministry ordered paramilitary Rangers to be deployed under anti-terrorism laws.
“They will be there for 60 days. I have given them authority that they could go to anywhere they want in Punjab,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad told reporters.