Violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi and the north of the country on Sunday, March 1, left at least 22 people dead and more than 120 injured, as pro-Iran protesters attempted to storm the United States Consulate, authorities said. In the North, activists also attacked UN and Pakistani government offices.
The violence comes after the US and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Police and hospital officials in Karachi said at least 50 people were injured in the clashes and some of them were in critical condition.
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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his “deep regret for the martyrdom” of Khamenei and sent condolences to Iran, according to his office. He stated: “Pakistan stands with the Iranian nation in this moment of mourning and shares its loss.”
Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at the city’s main state hospital, confirmed that six bodies and several injured people were taken to the facility. She said the death toll rose to 10 after four seriously injured people died.
Twelve people were killed and more than 80 injured in clashes with police in the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan when thousands of Shiite protesters, angered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran, attacked the offices of the UN Military Observer Group and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said local police official Asghar Ali.
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Government spokesman Shabir Mir said all employees working for these organizations were safe.
The clashes prompted Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi to appeal for calm. “Following the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, all citizens of Pakistan share the sadness of the people of Iran,” Naqvi said in a statement.
He, however, urged people not to take justice into their own hands and to express their protests peacefully.
Shias make up about 15% of Pakistan’s population of approximately 250 million people and constitute one of the largest Shia communities in the world. They frequently organize demonstrations against Israel and the US, although clashes on the current scale are rare. Source: Associated Press
