At least eight people were killed during pro-Iran protests at the United States consulate in the Pakistan megacity of Karachi on Sunday, a rescue service spokesman told news agency AFP.
“We have moved at least eight bodies to Karachi’s civil hospitals, while 20 others were injured in the consulate incident,” said Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service, adding most had bullet wounds.
Hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters had tried to storm the consulate following the US-Israel strikes on Iran.
A crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters who dispersed.
Videos on social media showed youngsters smashing the windows of the main building of the consulate as the American flag could be seen flying over the compound, whose perimeter is topped with barbed wire.
“We are setting the American consulate in Karachi on fire. God willing, we are avenging the killing of our leader,” a protester was quoted as saying by AFP.
Thousands of people are also taking to the streets in the city of Lahore and in Skardu, with a demonstration expected in the afternoon near the diplomatic enclave housing the US embassy in Islamabad.
Hundreds of protesters in Iraq, which officially declared three days of mourning for Khamenei, also tried to storm the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located.
Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, and also backs armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially. Iraq has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early Sunday. US president Donald Trump had announced his death hours earlier, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
On Sunday, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch its “most-intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israel and US bases.
(With AFP inputs)
