Pakistani police fire tear gas and charge protesters in Karachi

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Police and paramilitary soldiers stand beside a police vehicle setting on fire by supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police detain a supporter of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party burn bushes and throw stones towards police during clashes following protestors tried to break through a security barricade, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police and paramilitary soldiers chase supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party who setting on fire a police vehicle during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party burn bushes and throw stone towards police during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police fire tear gas shell to disperse supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police and paramilitary soldiers chase supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police fire tear gas shell to disperse supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party burn bushes as police fire tear gas shell to disperse them during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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Police detain a supporter of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party during clashes in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police fired tear gas and swung batons at thousands of protesters on Sunday in Karachi after the demonstrators tried to break through a security barricade.

Around 2,000 supporters of a far-right Islamist party tried to reach the city’s press club to oppose a another demonstration staged by civil society groups about the killing of a blasphemy suspect while he was in custody.

Supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party hurled rocks at officers and torched a patrol car when police stopped them from reaching the press club.

The party said one of its members died in the violence. Police arrested around 20 people from both demonstrations.

Provincial Interior Minister Zia Ul Hassan said authorities feared clashes because both the political party and the civil society groups had issued calls for protests on the same day.

Ul Hassan condemned the violence, especially given an upcoming security summit in Islamabad and last week’s deadly attack on a convoy of Chinese nationals outside the city’s airport.

The TLP supports Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, which call for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.