The Pakistani government confirmed that a total of 11 people including seven policemen were killed and several others injured in a suicide bombing in the capital of Islamabad on Friday.
A powerful explosion occurred in a market near Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque, as hundreds of people gathered around the mosque in protest. The blast damaged several shops in the area, a local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.
The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals after the blast.
Some religious activists, who came to Lal Masjid on Friday after the government reopened it after renovation, chanted anti- government slogans and turned furious and clashed with police in Islamabad.
Some people pelted stones at policemen and a number of people remained inside the mosque, painting the mosque into red again. Meanwhile, the security forces deployed around the mosque fired tear gas at the protesters, DAWN NEWS said.
People refused to offer prayers under the leadership of a new government-appointed Khateeb at the mosque, the News Network International (NNI) reported.
They demanded Maulana Abdul Aziz, the former chief of Lal Masjid who is under arrest, be brought back to Lal Masjid to lead the prayers, according to the NNI report.
The standoff between Lal Masjid religious students and the government started on July 3 when the students tried to snatch arms from security forces deployed around the mosque and triggered crossfire. The government launched an operation against militants inside the mosque on July 10 after its efforts to negotiate with them ended in failure.
The government renovated the mosque and changed its color from red to white. The children library adjacent to the mosque was pulled down on Wednesday, while demolition of Lal Masjid's affiliated seminary Jamia Hafsa is underway.
Source: Xinhua
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