US orders non-emergency staff to leave Pakistan amid violent clashes

The move follows violent demonstrations in Pakistan over the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which reportedly led to the deaths of dozens of protesters

The United States ordered its non-emergency personnel to depart its consulates in Karachi and Lahore, news agency AFP reported on Wednesday.

 

The move follows violent demonstrations in Pakistan over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Tuesday, Pakistani students and rights activists staged protests outside the US Consulate in Lahore, condemning Khamenei’s assassination and alleging the killing of demonstrators in Karachi.

 

According to Pakistan's Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, 18 people were killed and 40 injured when US Marine Corps personnel opened fire during a protest outside the US Consulate in Karachi on Sunday. According to the Associated Press, at least 34 people have been killed and 120 injured in demonstrations across Pakistan.

 

 

The US, in a coordinated strike with Israel, killed Khamenei on Saturday, February 28 , sending shockwaves across the Muslim world. The 86-year-old leader was widely revered among Shia Muslims, who make up an estimated 10–15 per cent of the global Muslim population. Shia communities are primarily concentrated in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan, with significant populations in Pakistan, Lebanon and Yemen.

 

Within hours of Khamenei’s death, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Pakistan. Similarly, in Iraq, demonstrators clashed with police near the US Embassy, while in Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired missiles towards Israel for the first time in over a year, the report added.