Anti-France protesters block highway in Pakistani capital

More than 1,000 protesters have blocked a major highway in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador and end of diplomatic ties with the European country over perceived Islamophobia.
Protesters from the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious political party that has campaigned on the issue of curbing blasphemy against Islam, blocked the city’s main Faizabad interchange on Monday, a day after violent clashes with the police.
Riot police were deployed to guard government buildings across the capital, with authorities using shipping containers to block important roads around the sit-in site.
Mobile phone services remained blocked for a second straight day across most of the city, as authorities attempted to disrupt the protesters’ ability to organise. Most Pakistani news media did not cover the protest.
The TLP, led by religious leader Khadim Husain Rizvi, has often agitated against the Pakistani government on issues around blasphemy, a sensitive topic in the South Asian country, where the crime carries a potential death sentence.
Monday’s protest, which began a day earlier, was aimed against the government of French President Emmanuel Macron, who made remarks about Islam and “blasphemy” in recent months that have sparked outrage in several Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, Turkey and countries across the Gulf.