KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — At least nine people were killed and about two dozen were wounded in violent clashes with police and paramilitary forces Sunday after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, authorities said.
APTOPIX Pakistan Iran US Israel
The violence came hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said at least 25 people were also wounded in the clashes and some of them were in critical condition.
Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at the city's main government hospital, confirmed that initially six bodies and multiple injured people were brought to the facility. However, she said the death toll rose to nine after three critically wounded died.
Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province and Pakistan's largest city.
Senior police official Irfan Baloch said protesters briefly attacked the perimeter of the U.S. Consulate but were later dispersed. "The situation is now fully under our control," Baloch said.
He dismissed as baseless reports that any part of the consulate building was set on fire. However, he said protesters torched a nearby police post and smashed windows of the consulate before security forces arrived and regained control.
Witnesses said dozens of Shiite protesters remained gathered about a kilometer (half a mile) from the consulate, urging others to join them. They said one of the protesters had tried to burn a window of the consulate before security forces arrived there and dispersed the demonstrators.
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The provincial government of Sindh in a statement urged citizens to express their views peacefully and warned against engaging in violence.
Shiites also held a peaceful rally in Multan, a city in Punjab province, chanting slogans against Israel and the United States. Mamoona Sherazi, who attended the rally, said she was protesting the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader. She described Khamenei as a fatherly figure and a strong voice for Shiites, adding that he also supported Sunni Muslims facing oppression. "God willing, we will never bow before America and Israel," she said.
Shiites also held a rally near the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province, police said. Faisal Kamran, a senior police official, said demonstrators tried to protest outside the consulate but were not allowed. Police dispersed the crowd when they tried to march toward the building, he said.
A rally was also planned in the capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in the country. Authorities said the government has stepped up security around the U.S. Embassy in the capital, and consulates across the country to avoid any further violence.
Shiites make up roughly 15% of Pakistan's population of about 250 million and represent one of the largest Shiite communities in the world. They have frequently staged anti-Israel and anti-U.S. rallies in the past, though clashes of this scale are rare.
Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.
