Ten people died in Karachi on Sunday, a hospital official said, after protesters clashed with law enforcement personnel near the US Consulate on Mai Kolachi Road, as protests erupted countrywide against the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
The protests followed the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran.
The situation warranted Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to issue an appeal, urging people to remain peaceful.
Earlier in Karachi, law enforcement personnel resorted to teargas shelling and baton-charge to control the situation at the US Consulate in Karachi.
According to a statement by Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, eight bodies were brought to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), while two succumbed to their injuries.
A total of 62 people were injured near US Consulate, with 41 taken to CHK’S SMBBIT, seven taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), eight taken to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), and six taken to Fatimiyah Hospital.
Separately, eight persons injured during protests at Native Jetty and Numaish Chowrangi were brought to SMBBIT, while three wounded in a protest in Paposh Nagar were taken to JPMC.
The two policemen were injured by “hard and blunt instruments”, while “two protesters with firearm injuries” were also brought to JPMC, the police surgeon told the media.
In Islamabad, at least two protesters died and over 30 were injured during clashes with law enforcement personnel near the Diplomatic Enclave, where people had gathered to protest the attacks on Iran.
Meanwhile, hundreds of activists from MWM assembled outside the US Consulate in Lahore at around 11am and attempted to force their way into the building, catching the police off guard. However, they were dispersed by police.
Separately, as demonstrations intensified across GB, curfew was imposed in the Skardu district.
Protesters set the offices in Gilgit and Skardu of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) on fire.
They also set a school, the office of the superintendent of police, and the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) office on fire during the protest. In KP, rallies in solidarity with Iran were staged in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Paharpur districts.