Pakistanis Protesting Arrest Of Pashtun Rights Activist Detained

Supporters of Manzoor Pashteen, chief of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), shout slogans during a protest against his detention in Lahore in January 2020.

Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore have detained several members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) who were protesting the continuing detention of group leader Manzoor Pashteen, who has campaigned for the country's Pashtun minority. The movement has pressed since 2018 for the rights of Pakistan's estimated 35 million ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom live near the Afghan border. It has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies in recent years to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed tactics in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.