Pakistani protesters pushed closer to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s house in central Islamabad on Monday in their bid to force his removal and closed down national television after clashes turned violent over the weekend.
News footage showed soldiers and paramilitary forces entering PTV national television’s headquarters in central Islamabad after a crowd broke through its gate and into the building.
“They have stormed the PTV office,” a news anchor said just before the screen went blank. “PTV staff performing their journalistic duties are being beaten up.”
The channel returned to air after the army and paramilitary Rangers cleared its headquarters of protesters and put the building under protection. Earlier a Reuters photographer saw the military escorting the demonstrators out of the building in a peaceful and orderly way.
Police fired tear gas at protesters outside the prime minister’s house, but were seen retreating as protesters, many carrying wooden clubs, pushed closer to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s official residence.
It was not clear if he was at home at the time.
Protests led by Imran Khan, a renowned cricketer before entering politics, and fiery cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, erupted last month and descended into deadly chaos on Saturday, with at least three people killed in clashes with police.
In a nation where power has often changed hands through military coups rather than elections, the army is bound to play a key role in how the conflict unfolds but it has not directly intervened, apart from talking to the protagonists and calling on them to show restraint.
The protesters could be seen beating motorcycles and cars with their sticks as they advanced closer to their target. They had tried to storm Sharif’s house on Saturday night but were beaten back by police.
The head of Islamabad police and another senior police officer were lightly wounded in the clashes, media reported.
