MIDDLE EAST MONITORING DESK ISLAMABAD
Pakistan , the neighboring country of Iran and homeland of millions of Shia community is seeing the impacts of Israel + US attacks on Iran , especially the martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that Irani officials confirmed today. The Consulates of USA in Karachi and Lahore have been attacked by the angry mobs. I n Karachi. At least 09 people were killed during pro-Iran protests at the United States consulate in the Pakistan megacity of Karachi on Sunday.
The US Embassy in Islamabad said: “We are monitoring reports of ongoing demonstrations at the US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, as well as calls for additional demonstrations at US Embassy Islamabad and Consulate General Peshawar.
“We advise US citizens in Pakistan to monitor local news and observe good personal security practices, including being aware of your surroundings, avoiding large crowds, and ensuring your STEP (Smart Traveller Enrollment Programme) registration is up to date.”
Due to protest activity around the U.S. Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, all appointments for U.S. visas and American Citizen Services are canceled for tomorrow, March 2.
Actions to Take:
- Avoid areas of large public gatherings.
- Review your personal security plans.
- Monitor local media for updates.
- Monitor email and local media for further updates regarding appointments at all locations.
- Keep a low profile.
- Carry identification and cooperate with police.
Nine 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 follow 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.
“Today is a sorrowful day for the entire Muslim ummah, Pakistan’s public and Iran’s public,” he said in a video statement.
Stating that every Pakistani citizen was as aggrieved as Iranians, Naqvi said, “My only request is that we all stand with you, but please do not take the law into your hands. You may protest but peacefully.”
According to reports, protesters attempted to reach the outer perimeter of the consulate, which was stopped by police intervention, but the protesters managed to enter the premises and damage its gate.
Local sources reported that several protesters were martyred and several others were injured in clashes with security forces.
Pakistani media announced that all roads leading to the US consulate have been closed to public traffic.
Hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm the consulate following the US-Israel strikes on Iran, an AFP journalist saw.
Nine people died from gunshot wounds, according to the hospital record, while a rescue service spokesman said 20 others were wounded.
AFP journalists said clashes between police and protesters were still ongoing outside the consulate at 3:00 pm local time (1000 GMT).
“We don’t need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US,” a protester, Sabir Hussain, told AFP.
“Our government and our forces are supporting the USA.”
The protesters chanted slogans against the United States, Israel and their allies.
Earlier a crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.
Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei Martyred in Joint Israel USA Attacks
Islamabad Rawalpindi
Around 4,000 people took to the streets in the capital Islamabad, where AFP journalists heard overhead gunfire, believed to be to disperse the crowd, and saw tear gas even before the planned start of a rally at 3:00 pm.
Zahra Mumtaz, a 52-year-old housewife from nearby Rawalpindi, said: “Our leader has been martyred, and we are not even allowed to protest.”
“The least the government could do is let us express our grief,” she told AFP, crying.
“Our leaders are nothing but stooges of the Americans… The Americans and Israelis will have to pay for this.”
In the northern city of Skardu, protesters stormed and set fire to a United Nations office, causing black smoke to rise from the building, an AFP reporter saw.
At least three nearby vehicles were completely burned.
Meanwhile, gatherings of all kinds were banned in Islamabad under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
According to the district administration, all kinds of gatherings and assemblies would be considered unlawful under Section 144. It urged residents not to take part in any such gathering.In an advisory, the Islamabad police said all routes leading to the Red Zone, which houses important government buildings, were also closed. Interior Minister Naqvi visited various areas of Islamabad and reviewed the law and order situation in the Red Zone, Diplomatic Enclave, and other areas.
Thousands of people also took to the streets in the eastern city of Lahore.
Meanwhile, hundreds of activists from Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (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, a few policemen on routine duty around the consulate managed to push back the activists protesting the US-Israel attacks on Iran.
Separately, as demonstrations intensified across Gilgit-Baltistan after Khamenei’s assassination, 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.
