At Least 22 Killed, More Than 120 Injured in Pakistan After Iran Supporters Attempt to Storm U.S. Consulate
Authorities reported that violent confrontations between protesters and security forces in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi and the country’s northern regions resulted in at least 22 deaths and over 120 injuries on Sunday, as demonstrators sympathetic to the Iranian government tried to breach a U.S. Consulate.
In the northern part of the country, protesters targeted U.N. and government buildings.
The unrest followed the , which killed Iran’s Supreme Leader . Police and hospital officials in Karachi stated that at least 50 people were also hurt in the clashes, with some in critical condition.
According to his office, President Asif Ali Zardari voiced his “deep sorrow over the martyrdom” of Khamenei and extended condolences to Iran. He stated: “Pakistan stands alongside the Iranian nation in this time of grief and shares their loss.”
Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at Karachi’s main government hospital, confirmed that six bodies and several injured individuals were taken to the facility. She noted, though, that the death toll increased to 10 after four critically injured people succumbed to their wounds.
Local police official Asghar Ali reported that an additional 12 people were killed and more than 80 injured in clashes with police in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. Thousands of protesters, furious over U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, attacked the offices of the U.N. Military Observer Group and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).
Government spokesman Shabir Mir stated that all staff from those organizations were safe. He mentioned that protesters clashed repeatedly with police in multiple areas of the region, damaged a local charity’s offices, and set fire to police stations. However, he noted that authorities had deployed troops and stabilized the situation.
The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan posted on that it was monitoring reports of ongoing protests at the U.S. Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, along with calls for more demonstrations at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulate General in Peshawar.
It advised U.S. citizens in Pakistan to follow local news, remain vigilant of their surroundings, steer clear of large gatherings, and ensure their travel registration with the U.S. government is current.
U. S. Consulate windows smashed
Senior police official Irfan Baloch said that in Karachi—capital of southern Sindh province and Pakistan’s largest city—protesters briefly assaulted the U.S. Consulate’s perimeter but were later scattered.
He refuted claims that any part of the consulate building was set ablaze. However, he stated that protesters burned a nearby police post and broke the consulate’s windows before security forces arrived and reestablished control.
Protests around the consulate lasted for hours, with dozens of young people—some with their faces covered—throwing stones at law enforcement and vowing to reach the consulate, where hundreds of police and paramilitary officers were stationed.
The confrontations led Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to issue a plea for calm.
“After the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei, every Pakistani citizen shares the grief of the Iranian people,” Naqvi said in a statement. However, he urged people not to take the law into their own hands and to protest peacefully. The Sindh provincial government also encouraged citizens to express their views peacefully and warned against violence.
Protests took place elsewhere in Pakistan
In Islamabad, police used tear gas and batons as hundreds of protesters—angry over Khamenei’s killing—tried to march toward the U.S. Embassy. The clashes occurred outside the city’s diplomatic enclave, where the embassy is situated, and extra police had been deployed.
Meanwhile, in the northwestern city of Peshawar, authorities also used tear gas and batons to break up thousands of demonstrators trying to reach the U.S. Consulate to hold a rally and condemn the Iranian leader’s killing, police stated.
Protesters also held a peaceful rally in Multan, a city in Punjab province, chanting slogans against Israel and the U.S.
Mamoona Sherazi, a rally attendee, said she was protesting Khamenei’s killing. “God willing, we will never submit to America and Israel,” she stated.
Police said protesters also rallied and clashed repeatedly with police near the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, capital of eastern Punjab province. Authorities stated that the government has increased security around the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and consulates nationwide to prevent further violence.