3 killed as police battle anti-government protesters in Pakistan

Aoun Sahi

The violence is the latest in the turmoil roiling Pakistan, where anti-
government cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan
have been leading twin protests since mid-August calling on Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif to resign. Over the weekend, three people died and hundreds
were injured in what amounted to running street battles between the police
and the demonstrators.
The rallies against Sharif constitute the biggest threat to his government little
more than one year in office. Qadri and Khan allege widespread fraud in the
country's May 2013 election, in which Sharif's party won by a landslide.
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International observers found no evidence indicating rampant election
tampering. Several rounds of negotiations between representatives of Khan
and Qadri and the government have failed to make any headway.
The protests began with a march to Islamabad from the eastern city of
Lahore on the country's Independence Day, Aug. 14. Once in the capital, the
protesters camped out near the parliament, pushing their demands. Khan and
Qadri had called for millions to join them but crowds at the most numbered
tens of thousands at the height of the demonstrations.

Hours after the powerful army called for a peaceful resolution to the political crisis rocking Pakistan, anti-government
protesters armed with rocks and wooden clubs clash with police near the prime minister's residence in Islamabad on
September 1, 2014. (Asif Hassan / AFP / Getty Images)
The rallies initially remained peaceful, though they forced a lockdown of
Islamabad and badly harmed the city's business life. Violence first erupted on
Saturday, with police firing tear gas and clashing with protesters who pushed
closer to the seat of government in the capital's Red Zone.
On Monday, Pakistani television showed images of the protesters and police
clashing in various areas of the Red Zone, a sprawling complex of government
buildings and grassy lawns in the center of Islamabad. The protesters, many
of whom were wearing gas masks and were armed with batons, could be
seen hurling rocks at policemen.