Protests break out in Pakistan, Iraq, Kashmir over Khamenei’s death; 9 die in Karachi
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- Pakistani police clashed with pro-Iranian protesters outside the US consulate in Karachi on March 1, leaving nine dead after US-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- Nationwide protests erupted in Pakistan; a UN office in Skardu was burned down. Protesters also gathered in Iraq and in Indian Kashmir.
- Protesters expressed their anti-US and anti-Israel anger, reflecting widespread Shi'ite grief and defiance.
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KARACHI - Pakistani police on March 1 clashed with protesters who breached the outer wall of the US consulate in Karachi, leaving nine people dead, following news of US and Israeli strikes
Pro-Iranian protesters also gathered outside the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where the US Embassy is located.
Pakistan and then Iraq have the largest Shi’ite Muslim populations after Iran.
In Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, protesters had been pushed back from the consulate, a spokesman for the local government said, after they set a vehicle ablaze outside the main gate and clashed with police.
At least nine people were killed in those clashes, police said.
Reuters reporters heard sounds of gunfire and saw teargas being fired in streets around the compound. Video footage showed a fire beneath a nearby bridge.
No casualties were reported in the street clashes.
The US Consulate in Karachi and the US Embassy Islamabad Press Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Large protests also occurred in other parts of Pakistan.
Protesters set fire to a United Nations office building in the northern city of Skardu, in the normally peaceful Shi’ite-majority Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region known for its Himalayan peaks popular with tourists.
“A large number of protesters have gathered outside the UN office in GB and burned down the building,” local government spokesperson Shabbir Mir told Reuters, adding no casualties had been reported.
Smoke billows after Shi’ite Muslim protesters set fire to a United Nations office during an anti-US and Israel protest in Skardu in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region on March 1.
PHOTO: AFP
Earlier in the day in the central city of Lahore, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the US consulate. There were some small-scale clashes with police but no reports of violence.
“Some of the protesters tried to damage the security gate, hundreds of yards away from the Consulate. However, police stopped them without use of force,” Aqeel Raza, an eyewitness, told Reuters.
In the capital Islamabad, all roads leading to the red zone, which houses diplomatic missions and parliament, were blocked for traffic or any other public movement, police said.
Several thousand Shia Muslims
Protesters holding red, black, and yellow flags converged on the main square in the heart of Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir.
Many of them chanted anti-Israel and anti-US slogans during the emotionally charged but largely peaceful gathering.
Mr Syed Towfeeq, 40, said: “This day we are all very heavy-hearted. We are mourning our beloved leader who was martyred. We all have a message for Trump... We will always stand against your oppression.” REUTERS, AFP
