22 killed as protesters try to storm US Consulate in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Violent clashes between protesters and safety forces in Pakistan’s southern port metropolis of Karachi and in the nation’s north left no less than 22 individuals lifeless and greater than 120 others injured as demonstrators supportive of the Iranian authorities tried to storm a US Consulate on Sunday, authorities mentioned.
In the north of the nation, demonstrators attacked UN and authorities workplaces.
The violence got here after the United States and Israel attacked Irankilling his Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officers at a hospital in Karachi mentioned that no less than 50 individuals have been additionally wounded in the clashes and a few of them have been in vital situation.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his “profound sorrow over the martyrdom” of Khamenei and conveyed his condolences to Iran, in accordance to his workplace. He mentioned: “Pakistan stands with the Iranian nation at this moment of grief and shares in their loss.”
Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon on the metropolis’s principal authorities hospital, confirmed six our bodies and a number of injured individuals have been introduced to the power. However, she mentioned the demise toll rose to 10 after 4 critically wounded individuals died.
In addition, 12 individuals have been killed and over 80 wounded in clashes with police in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan area when hundreds of protesters angered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran attacked the workplaces of the UN Military Observer Group and the UN Development Program (UNDP), native police official Asghar Ali mentioned.
A authorities spokesperson, Shabir Mir, mentioned all employees working for these organizations was protected. He mentioned protesters repeatedly clashed with police at numerous locations in the area, broken the workplaces of an area charity, and set fireplace to police workplaces. However, he mentioned authorities had deployed troops and introduced the scenario beneath management.
The US Embassy in Pakistan mentioned in a publish on
It suggested US residents in Pakistan to monitor native information, keep conscious of their environment, keep away from massive crowds and preserve their journey registration with the US authorities up to date.
US Consulate home windows smashed
In Karachi, which is the capital of southern Sindh province and Pakistan’s largest metropolis, senior police officer Irfan Baloch mentioned that protesters briefly attacked the perimeter of the US Consulate, however have been later dispersed.
He has dismissed studies that any a part of the consulate constructing was set on fireplace. However, he mentioned that protesters torched a close-by police publish and smashed home windows of the consulate earlier than safety forces arrived and regained management.
Protests in the realm surrounding the consulate went on for hours, with dozens of youth, some protecting their faces, throwing stones at legislation enforcement officers and vowing to attain the consulate the place a whole lot of police and paramilitary officers have been deployed.
The clashes prompted Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to challenge an attraction for calm.
“Following the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, every citizen of Pakistan shares in the grief of the people of Iran,” Naqvi mentioned in an announcement, however urged individuals not to take the legislation into their very own arms and to specific their protests peacefully. The provincial authorities of Sindh additionally urged residents to specific their views peacefully and warned in opposition to participating in violence.
Protests happened elsewhere in Pakistan
In Islamabad, police fired tear gasoline and swung batons as a whole lot of protesters, angered by the killing of Khamenei, tried to march towards the US Embassy. The clashes happened outdoors town’s diplomatic enclave, the place the embassy is situated, and extra police had been deployed.
Meanwhile, in the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar, authorities additionally used tear gasoline and batons to disperse hundreds of demonstrators trying to method the US Consulate to maintain a rally and to denounce the killing of the Iranian chief, police mentioned.
Protesters additionally held a peaceable rally in Multan, a metropolis in Punjab province, chanting slogans in opposition to Israel and the United States.
Mamoona Sherazi, who attended the rally, mentioned that she was protesting Khamenei’s killing. “God willing, we will never bow before America and Israel,” she mentioned.
Protesters additionally rallied and clashed with police repeatedly close to the US Consulate in Lahore, the capital of japanese Punjab province, police mentioned. Authorities mentioned that the federal government has stepped up safety across the US Embassy in the capital, and consulates throughout the nation to keep away from any additional violence.
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Munir Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Babar Dogar in Lahore, and Asim Tanveer in Multan, contributed to this story.
