Mosques full despite Pakistan's Covid third wave

Pakistani officials have steadily tightened restrictions and banned travel during the upcoming Eid holiday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan -- but they have turned a blind eye to religious gatherings

RAWALPINDI (PAKISTAN) - Schools and restaurants have closed, shops pull down their shutters early every evening, and the military has been mobilised to combat the spread of coronavirus -- but night after night the faithful flock to mosques across Pakistan for prayers.

Anxious over the virus's deadly rampage through neighbouring India, officials have steadily tightened restrictions and banned travel during the upcoming Eid holiday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

But they have turned a blind eye to religious gatherings, fearing a crackdown could ignite widespread confrontation in the deeply conservative Islamic republic.

"There is so much concern about backlash from religious groups," said Saeedullah Shah, a doctor with the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association Covid-19 task force.

"It's a very weak government," he told AFP. "Everything is half-hearted."