Islamabad, March 2:  Protests erupted across Pakistan on Sunday, with 20 people dead and dozens wounded nationwide, after the United States and Israel confirmed the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in coordinated air strikes on Tehran.

The deaths included 10 people in Karachi, at least eight in Skardu and two in the capital, Islamabad, as demonstrations largely led by members of Pakistan’s Shia Muslim community escalated and security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Protests erupted across Pakistan on Sunday, with 20 people dead and dozens wounded nationwide, after the United States and Israel confirmed the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in coordinated air strikes on Tehran.

The deaths included 10 people in Karachi, at least eight in Skardu and two in the capital, Islamabad, as demonstrations largely led by members of Pakistan’s Shia Muslim community escalated and security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Pakistan, a country of more than 250 million people, is predominantly Sunni Muslim, but Shia account for more than 20 percent of the population and are spread across the country.

In Islamabad, thousands gathered near the Red Zone, the heavily fortified district that houses the parliament, government offices and foreign embassies. Protesters chanted, “Those who side with the US are traitors” and called for “revenge against Israel”.

Between 5,000 and 8,000 people, including women and children, assembled near one of the capital’s largest hotels, holding placards bearing Khamenei’s image.

Syed Nayab Zehra, a 28-year-old protester, said she had joined the rally with her family to express solidarity with Iranians, even if “our government is not with you”.

“We want to show the world that, don’t take us Shia lightly. We are here to remind the world that we will seek revenge. We cannot expect or hope anything from our own government, but we will stand up for our community,” she told Al Jazeera.

Pakistan’s government has condemned the joint US-Israel military attack on Iran in which Khamenei was killed. It has also criticised Iran’s subsequent attacks on Gulf nations.

On Sunday, some people in the crowd urged demonstrators to march towards the diplomatic enclave, while others shouted instructions to maintain “discipline”.

Ali Nawab, a worker for the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, a Shia political party, said organisers had agreed with local authorities to keep the protest peaceful. (Al Jazeera)

People’s News Monitoring Service

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