ISLAMABAD (SW): Pakistan’s Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) have intensified an eviction operation in the federal capital Islamabad’s slums that has reportedly caused the death of a minor, arrests, torture and damage to property.
According to the Awami Workers Party (AWP), a local organization fighting for the poor’s right to shelter, Punjab Police has fired rubber bullets and tear gas in the slums and has forcefully destroyed the mud houses.
Women have been beaten up, kicked off of roofs, with their clothing torn off their bodies. Several children, women and elderly critically injured. Police have set people's homes on fire. Over 80 people have been arrested, including AWP's Hassan Turi, it said.
The government however claims the slums were illegal and were served notices before the operation. Most inhabitants of this camp were beleived to be internally displaced people from Pakistan's restive tribal belt and Afghan refugees.
ENDS
