KARACHI: Spent casings of tear gas shells littered the road outside the US consulate in Karachi on Sunday, which was sprinkled with charred remains of several motorcycles — including one that belonged to a Dawn photographer.

The smell of gunpowder was in the air, regularly punctuated by the deep thumps of tear gas shells being fired. Hundreds of law enforcement personnel, including paramilitary forces, riot police and special units, were in the area — forming security cordons, keeping protesters at bay, and even those taking refuge from the afternoon sun.

The protesters, young Shia men, were scattered, their numbers waxing and waning, but not more than a thousand.

A couple of hundred angry protesters were crowded at the end of the Mai Kolachi Road, which is where the bow of the massive US consulate compound is located.

Quite a few were armed with rudimentary weapons: bamboo sticks and tree branches. One even had a stone tied to a piece of cloth — an improvised bludgeon.

A large number carried portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, assassinated the night before in a joint US-Israeli strike.

Most of them had pieces of cloth tied around their face; to conceal their identity and minimise the impacts of tear gas.

Every now and then, a fiery speech would be followed by slogans, with a couple of young men demanding that the security perimeter be breached, only to be talked down by the elders.

On the sidelines of the protest, when a Rangers’ soldier asked a young man to put down the stick he was wielding, he refused.

“This is not for you. This is for them,” he said, pointing to the US Consulate in the background.

Their demand: to take down the US flag fluttering atop the consulate and burn it.

Another young man told a cameraman not to film them. Meanwhile, at least one journalist had his phone taken away over the same objection, getting it back only after the intervention of community elders.

Earlier in the day, protesters had stormed the consulate, scaling its towering gate and damaging property on the premises.

The protesters dissipated following gunfire, including by local law enforcement and armed protesters, but as the news of deaths among protesters spread, more returned to the site — to avenge their comrades as well as their spiritual leader.

According to Imran, a rescue worker with the Edhi Foundation’s ambulance service, the protesters started converging early in the day.

He said that motorcyclists started showing up on the spacious Mai Kolachi Road along the embassy, which was unusual for the weekend.

“A lot of people race here — on bikes, donkey carts, etc,” he explained. He said that by 6am, around 500-600 people had already gathered outside the consulate.

Imran said his ambulance also came under attack during the protest, showing a dent on the side of the vehicle.

“It was right after I grabbed a policeman, who was struggling after being hit by a stone. I shoved him inside the ambulance,” he said.

“If they had caught him, I don’t know what they would have done,” he said.

This uncertainty was also present among the protesters, gathered in pockets all the way to the Keamari bridge; three of them discussed how to salvage a burnt motorcycle, while another said that their leadership had let them down.

“None of our major leaders are here, instead going to Numaish and other places,” he said.

“Either come here to take us there or send us a clear message,” he added.

He had arrived early and was part of the protest. He said that young men were trying to break the bulletproof glass inside the consulate, without success, when they came under fire.

He then pointed to the solar panels and surveillance cameras located on the road.

“Hopefully, we damaged that,” he said.

Meanwhile, back at the main site of the protest, a forklift was bringing a shipping container to seal off access to the US consulate from the Mai Kolachi side.

However, young men soon started hurling stones as police responded with teargas. The clash was back on, and the sounds of gunshots permeated the air, dissipating the crowd, even if for a little while.

Header image: Security personnel fire tear gas as protesters shout slogans during a protest outside the US consulate in Karachi on March 1, 2026. — AFP