LAHORE, Dec 7: Demonstrations were held in front of many mosques here by supporters of the Pak-Afghan Defence Council comprising 26 religious parties after Friday prayers to condemn American attacks on Afghanistan and the arrest of their leaders.

A rally taken out from Jamaat-i-Islami’s Mansoora headquarters was led by the party’s Punjab amir Hafiz Muhammad Idrees and Maulana Abdul Maalik.

The participants, including women and children carried placards and banners, demanding the release of Qazi Husain Ahmad, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Liaquat Baloch, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Azam Tariq. They also said the arrests could not stop the movement.

Hafiz Idrees asked the government to refrain from taking actions against seminaries and said these were the citadels of Islam which would be protected at all costs.