<p>At least seven Pakistan police officers and special rangers were taken hostage Sunday by supporters of a radical Islamist party, officials said, after days of violent anti-France protests.</p>.<p>Rioting has rocked the country since Monday when the leader of the now-banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was detained in Lahore after calling for the expulsion of the French ambassador.</p>.<p>The protests have paralysed cities and led to the deaths of six policemen, prompting the French embassy to recommend all its nationals temporarily leave the country.</p>.<p>"The TLP members are holding five police officers and two rangers hostage," said Rana Arif, a police spokesman in Lahore told AFP, referring to the country's paramilitary force.</p>.<p>Firdous Ashiq Awan, a spokeswoman for the Punjab provincial government, said 12 policemen had been abducted and taken to a TLP mosque in Lahore, where hundreds of supporters were gathered.</p>.<p>"Violent groups armed with petrol bombs and acid bottles stormed the Nawankot police station this morning," she tweeted, adding that six police officers have now died in clashes this week.</p>.<p>An oil truck was seized and petrol bombs thrown at officers, both Arif and Awan said.</p>.<p>TLP leaders say several of the party's supporters were killed in Sunday's clashes.</p>.<p>"We won't bury them until the French ambassador is kicked out," Allama Muhammad Shafiq Amini, a TLP leader in the city, said in a video statement.</p>.<p>The police would not comment on the reported TLP deaths.</p>.<p>An AFP reporter at the scene said police used tear gas against stone-throwing protesters.</p>.<p>The TLP has been behind an anti-France campaign since President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of Charlie Hebdo magazine to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad -- an act deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.</p>
<p>At least seven Pakistan police officers and special rangers were taken hostage Sunday by supporters of a radical Islamist party, officials said, after days of violent anti-France protests.</p>.<p>Rioting has rocked the country since Monday when the leader of the now-banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was detained in Lahore after calling for the expulsion of the French ambassador.</p>.<p>The protests have paralysed cities and led to the deaths of six policemen, prompting the French embassy to recommend all its nationals temporarily leave the country.</p>.<p>"The TLP members are holding five police officers and two rangers hostage," said Rana Arif, a police spokesman in Lahore told AFP, referring to the country's paramilitary force.</p>.<p>Firdous Ashiq Awan, a spokeswoman for the Punjab provincial government, said 12 policemen had been abducted and taken to a TLP mosque in Lahore, where hundreds of supporters were gathered.</p>.<p>"Violent groups armed with petrol bombs and acid bottles stormed the Nawankot police station this morning," she tweeted, adding that six police officers have now died in clashes this week.</p>.<p>An oil truck was seized and petrol bombs thrown at officers, both Arif and Awan said.</p>.<p>TLP leaders say several of the party's supporters were killed in Sunday's clashes.</p>.<p>"We won't bury them until the French ambassador is kicked out," Allama Muhammad Shafiq Amini, a TLP leader in the city, said in a video statement.</p>.<p>The police would not comment on the reported TLP deaths.</p>.<p>An AFP reporter at the scene said police used tear gas against stone-throwing protesters.</p>.<p>The TLP has been behind an anti-France campaign since President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of Charlie Hebdo magazine to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad -- an act deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.</p>