Protest in Pakistan after PTM leader arrested

Manzoor Pashteen -- head of the Pashtun Protection Movement -- was arrested on charges of making anti-government speeches at rallies and inciting violence. The group contends the military is waging a campaign of intimidation as it battles Islamist militants in the country's rugged border region near Afghanistan.

Karachi: Hundreds of protesters on Tuesday gathered in the Pakistan's Karachi to call for the release of the leader of a human rights group that has accused the military of committing widespread abuses in its war on terror.

Manzoor Pashteen was detained along with six others by security forces on Monday in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

He was arrested on charges of making anti-government speeches at rallies and inciting violence.

Pashteen, 27, heads the Pashtun Protection Movement, which has emerged as a force among the country’s Pashtun minority, drawing tens of thousands to rallies.

The group contends the military is waging a campaign of intimidation as it battles Islamist militants in the country's rugged border region near Afghanistan.

It said that the army's heavy-handed tactics include extrajudicial killings and thousands of disappearances and detentions.

With inputs from AP