At least four people, including police officers and civilians, were killed and 56 others injured in Muridke, Pakistan, on Monday during violent clashes linked to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), local media reported.
Police and Rangers launched an operation to disperse TLP supporters after violence erupted during the group’s long march. Protesters reportedly threw stones, used spiked sticks and petrol bombs, and later fired indiscriminately, causing casualties among law enforcement personnel and civilians. Among the dead were three TLP supporters and one passerby, while 48 police and Rangers personnel were injured, 17 of them by gunfire, according to The Express Tribune.
Authorities arrested as many as 170 people, including workers, office-bearers, and activists associated with TLP, across three districts in Punjab under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). Arrests included 69 in Pakpattan, 42 in Sahiwal, and 50 in Okara.
Lahore and surrounding areas had already witnessed violent protests over the weekend when TLP supporters clashed with police after being stopped from marching toward the capital for a pro-Palestine demonstration. In response, law enforcement, including Pakistan Rangers and police forces from five districts, were deployed to Muridke early Sunday, surrounding the TLP protest camp ahead of a potential large-scale crackdown.
A senior Punjab police source told Dawn that the increased deployment followed a high-level meeting on Saturday night. The meeting highlighted earlier attacks by TLP supporters on police facilities in Shahdara, Lahore, where they reportedly seized 18 official motorbikes, damaged infrastructure, and took government vehicles at gunpoint for unlawful use. Some police officers in Shahdara were also reported missing, raising concerns they might have been abducted.
