Anti-France protesters take hostage Pak policemen, rangers

LAHORE: After days of violent anti-France protests, officials said that eight Pakistani police officers and special rangers were being held hostage by supporters of a radical Islamist party on Sunday.

Rioting has erupted in Pakistan over the last week, after the leader of the now-banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was detained in the country's second largest city, Lahore, after calling for the expulsion of the French ambassador.

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The protests have paralysed cities and resulted in the deaths of six police officers, prompting the French embassy to advise all of its nationals to leave the country for the time being.

Rana Arif, a Lahore police spokesman told that TLP members are holding five police officers and two rangers hostage.

According to Firdous Ashiq Awan, a spokeswoman for the Punjab provincial government, 12 police officers were kidnapped and taken to a TLP mosque in Lahore, where hundreds of supporters were gathered.