KARACHI, Sept 16: At least six protesters were wounded as police fired tear-gas shells and used water canons in an attempt to stop a rally from marching on the American consulate, and three police vans, a bus and a petrol pump were torched in the ensuing violence on Sunday evening.

The march, organised by the Imamia Students Organisation and Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen to record their protest against a blasphemous film made in the United States, managed to reach the US consulate on M.T. Khan Road.

The hate film has already drawn the ire of people in Libya, Egypt and Yemen during the past week.

The students’ organisation and the MWM had earlier announced that the protesters would march from the Numaish intersection up to the US consulate.

On Sunday, police placed containers on M.T. Khan Road and beefed up security around the consulate. However, the protesters converged on M.T. Khan Road after passing through M.A. Jinnah Road and Merewether Tower.

The police fired into the air and used water cannons and teargas shells to disperse the crowd, but marchers managed to reach the consulate building.

“Amid shelling some youngsters managed to scale the wall of the consulate and hoisted the flags of ‘Laibak Ya Rasool Allah,” said an ISO activist who participated in the protest.

“We have made a video clip of the scaling the consulate wall and hoisting the flags,” the activist added.

Apparently, it was at that time the police opened fire on the marchers leaving at least six of them wounded. The police had used water cannons to disperse the protesters, but it proved futile.

The city police chief, Additional IG Iqbal Mehmood, said that there was no security breach at the consulate; they just crossed over a barricade.

Three policemen were hit by bricks in the head, he added.

Actually, a police van was stationed at the Sea Breeze Plaza to provide security to the marchers but they set it on fire, said Mr Mehmood.

The police chief confirmed that three police vans had been set on fire by the protesters. He questioned the rational of the burning public property.

Similarly, a police kiosk situated near the US consulate was also set ablaze.

The police, however, rounded up around 20 protesters near the consulate.

The wounded protesters were rushed to a private hospital where condition of one of them was stated to be serious.

“Ali Raza Taqvi has sustained a gunshot wound to the head. He is being moved to operating theatre,” said a student activist.

Soon after their dispersal outside the consulate, the participants in the rally returned to the Numaish area and staged a sit-in at the traffic intersection. But violence broke out again when some unidentified persons set fire to another police van near the intersection.

Gunfire was heard in the area followed by an arson attack on a passenger bus in the Soldier Bazaar area.

Late Sunday night, talks between the police and the Shia community representatives for the release of the detained protesters were under way.

A spokesman for the US consulate, Richard Silver, told AFP, “There has been no damage or injury to any of our personnel at the consulate.”