French Embassy advises citizens to leave Pakistan amid threats

According to details, the advisory has been released in view of violent protests by members of TLP who had been demanding from the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) to send back French ambassador and ban the import of goods from that country.

#BREAKING French embassy advises its citizens to leave Pakistan over 'serious threats' pic.twitter.com/5fFedOAd3k

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 15, 2021

On Monday, the demonstrations were sparked by the arrest of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Saad Rizvi in Lahore on unspecified charges.

Rizvi, in a video message, had asked the TLP workers to be ready to launch the long march if the government failed to meet thier demands.

The protestors blocked several roads of major cities including Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi causing massive jams. Clashes between police and demonstrators were also reported from Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and several other cities where police officials fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters, who fought back in some places by pelting stones at police officers.

Injuries to protesters and police officers were also reported from several cities.

Most highways, which were blocked earlier, had reopened on Tuesday, although limited road closures continued to affect the capital Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Imran Khan gave a green signal to a summary sent by the Ministry of Interior seeking a ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) following violent protests across the country.

The development came after Interior Minister Shaikh Rasheed announced that the government of Pakistan has decided to ban Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).