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• Over 100 injured
• 10 die in Karachi consulate clashes
• Two killed near Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad
• At least seven killed in GB; UNMOGIP office torched
• Ban on gatherings in capital, Punjab, Sindh; curfew in Skardu
KARACHI: At least 19 people were killed and more than a hundred injured across the country on Sunday as violent protests erupted following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated US-Israeli air strikes on Tehran.
The worst violence was witnessed in Karachi, where ten people died during clashes outside the US consulate, while two protesters were killed in Islamabad, and at least seven more lost their lives in Gilgit.
Authorities imposed emergency security measures in several cities, including Section 144 in Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad, and a curfew in parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as unrest spread nationwide.
The situation also 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.
Stressing that every Pakistani citizen was as aggrieved as Iranians, Mr 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.”
Karachi clashes
Law enforcement personnel used teargas shelling and baton charge to disperse protesters outside the US consulate in Karachi.
According to Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, eight bodies were initially brought to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), while two others later succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 10.
A total of 96 people were injured in the protests across Karachi, according to hospital data.
The SMBB Institute of Trauma (SMBBIT) received 51 injured — 41 from the US consulate clashes and 10 from protests at Native Jetty and Numaish — of whom five remained admitted, including two in critical condition.
At Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), seven injured persons were brought in, including two civilians and five police personnel; one of them was in critical condition.
Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) treated eight injured, with six admitted, including two critical cases. Meanwhile, Fatimiyah Hospital received 30 injured persons, 11 of whom remained hospitalised.
Hospital records showed that all nine deceased and 34 injured persons brought to CHK had sustained gunshot wounds.
Two injured policemen were among those taken to JPMC. They suffered injuries from “hard and blunt instruments”, while two protesters with firearm injuries were also treated there.
Emotional scenes unfolded outside CHK’s mortuary as bodies were brought for legal formalities.
Roads around the US consulate were sealed due to the deteriorating security situation. Later, fresh clashes erupted when authorities attempted to place containers to block nearby roads, prompting protesters to pelt stones.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said in a statement that the “regrettable” incident occurred after protesters breached the outer security barrier, entered the premises of the foreign mission and engaged in vandalism.
In a statement, the US embassy in Islamabad said it was monitoring reports of demonstrations at the US consulates in Karachi and Lahore, as well as calls for protests at the US embassy in Islamabad and the consulate in Peshawar. It advised US citizens to monitor local news, avoid large crowds and follow security precautions.
Meanwhile, the Sindh Rangers said it had deployed “heavy contingents of mobile vigilance teams” across the city in view of the prevailing security situation.
Clashes is 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.
The clashes came after the district administration had banned all kinds of gatherings under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
According to sources at Polyclinic Hospital, as many as nine injured persons were brought there.
Sources at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) said a body and 25 injured people were brought to the hospital. The injured included three police officials and two Rangers personnel. Eight of those admitted to Pims and Polyclinic were in a critical condition.
Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) spokesman Hasnain Zaidi told Dawn that at least two persons had died.
He claimed that as many as 15 protesters were taken into custody and taken to a police station. “We have started efforts to get them released,” he added.
Police resorted to heavy shelling near the Foreign Office building to stop the protesters from entering the Diplomatic Enclave. The police, backed by Rangers, succeeded in pushing the protesters back and out of the Red Zone.
In the late afternoon, thousands of people reached Aabpara Chowk to march towards the US embassy. However, the march was stopped by the law enforcement agencies at Serena Chowk, where shelling was employed, resulting in multiple injuries.
Earlier in the day, the interior minister visited various areas of Islamabad and reviewed the law and order situation in the Red Zone, Diplomatic Enclave and other areas.
Lahore protests
Hundreds of MWM activists also 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.
Some protesters told Dawn that one of their colleagues scaled the consulate’s boundary wall and was detained by security guards. By that time, police reinforcements had arrived, and a police inspector negotiated with consulate security to secure the protester’s release.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government also imposed Section 144 to ban gatherings and sit-ins of four or more persons across the province for seven days. A complete ban was also imposed on the carrying, display or brandishing of all kinds of weapons.
Curfew in Skardu
Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed at protests in Gilgit on Sunday and a curfew was imposed in the Skardu district as demonstrations intensified across Gilgit-Baltistan after Mr Khamenei’s assassination.
“At least seven people were killed in today’s clashes in Gilgit,” Zaheer Shah, a rescue official, told AFP in a phone call, adding that many more were injured.
In Gilgit and Skardu, protesters set the offices of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) on fire.
They also torched a school, the office of the superintendent of police and the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme office during the protest.
The GB police issued a statement saying that a curfew has been imposed in Skardu. The statement said that the Pakistan Army had been called in under Section 245 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Protesters also blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at multiple locations in Hunza, Nagar and Gilgit, holding pictures of Mr Khamenei and chanting anti-American and anti-Israel slogans. They also staged a sit-in at Siachen Road in Kharmang.
Roads in Shigar and Ghanche also remained blocked, while the Baltistan Road has been blocked in Roundu and other areas. Inter-district roads also remained blocked.
Shops, markets, business markets and commercial activities remained suspended in Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Nagar, Shigar, Kharmang, Astore and Ghanche.
Imtiaz Ali in Karachi, Amjad Mahmood in Lahore, Ikram Junaidi, Syed Irfan Raza and Kalbe Ali in Islamabad, and Jamil Nagri in Gilgit also contributed
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2026
