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ISLAMABAD: A protest announced by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party has paralyzed the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and other cities, with authorities closing roads amid a disruption in mobile phone services.

The TLP this week called for a march on the federal capital where it planned to stage a protest outside the United States (US) embassy in solidarity with Palestinians.

Authorities raided the party headquarters in Lahore late Wednesday in a bid to keep the TLP from following through on its plans. The raid resulted in clashes that continued on Thursday.

Shipping containers have since been placed on key roads in Islamabad, Lahore and other cities to block the protesters, amid reports of arrests of dozens of TLP supporters.

“All types of heavy traffic will be banned from entering Islamabad until further notice,” the city’s traffic police said on X, sharing alternate traffic routes for public.

School administration in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad returned students to homes early Friday in view of the law-and-order situation, according to school association.

The Ministry of Interior directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to suspend 3G and 4G services in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

A directive dated October 9 stated the ministry had “accorded approval to suspend 3G/4G services in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, starting from 12am tonight till further orders.” It directed the PTA to take “further necessary action” in this regard in coordination with local administration and police in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The TLP has previously staged protests, most prominently in support of blasphemy laws and to call on the government to cut diplomatic ties with Western nations where Holy Qur’an desecrations have taken place.

Some of these protests turned violent and continued for days.

In Oct. last year, police in Karachi arrested more than a dozen TLP activists and members of a local human rights group for staging separate demonstrations over a blasphemy case, amid a ban on public gatherings.

In July 2024, hundreds of TLP supporters had camped at the Faizabad interchange connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi to demand the Pakistani government officially boycott Israeli products and declare Israeli PM a ‘terrorist.’ The protest continued for a week and was ended after talks with government.

MADRID: Spain hit back at Donald Trump on Friday after the US President suggested expelling the country from NATO for failing to meet his ramped-up defense spending target.
In June, the 32-nation military alliance agreed to massively boost defense spending to five percent of annual economic output over the next decade under pressure from Trump.
But Spain, which was NATO’s lowest defense spender in relative terms last year, insisted it would not need to hit the headline figure.
“We had one laggard, it was Spain,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
“They have no excuse not to do this, but that’s all right. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly.”
Government sources said on Friday that “Spain is a committed and full member of NATO. And it meets its capacity targets as much as the United States.”
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has argued that Spain should meet its capacity objectives rather than fixed spending targets, including cybersecurity and the environment in his calculations.
The Spanish opposition pounced on the stir caused by Trump’s remarks to criticize Sanchez late on Thursday.
The main conservative opposition’s leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, wrote on X that “Spain is a credible, proud member and committed to NATO. And we will remain so. The problem is Sanchez.”
“He can’t be trusted, but that should not hold the country back. Our nation should not have to pay for his frivolity and irresponsibility,” the Popular Party leader said.
Far-right leader Santiago Abascal, who heads Spain’s third-largest political force Vox, said on X that Sanchez “further destroys national interests and seriously harms our security.”
“Sanchez is the greatest calamity Spain has had in a long time.”