Anti-US protests in Pakistan turn deadly
Tens of thousands take to city streets in anger over anti-Islam film, with several killed as protests turn violent
A Pakistani man brandishes a stick near burning police vehicles during protests against the US-made anti-Islam film in Karachi. Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images
Violent anti-US demonstrations have erupted across Pakistan after a week of rising anger and the fateful decision by the government to declare a national day of protest against the US film that mocks Islam's prophet.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of all major cities, with many p
rotests descending into serious unrest that killed at least 15 people, injured around 120 and did significant damage to businesses.
In street battles across the country, protesters threw objects at police, who retaliated with teargas canisters and live rounds, mostly shot into the air.
Three people were killed in Peshawar, close to the Afghan border, as mobs attacked buildings, including a number of cinemas that were set on fire.
One victim was the driver of a broadcast truck owned by the television network ARY who was caught in police fire. He later died of his wounds in hospital but not before the television station broadcast continuous loops of him in obvious pain being attended to in an emergency room.
In many places crowds were able to break through barricades erected by police, who struggled to control mobs enraged by the blasphemous video Innocence of Muslims that sparked the crisis.
Images streaming in from all over the country on Pakistan's cable news cha
nnels got steadily grimmer as what the government had billed as "Love of Prophet Muhammad Day" wore on and protests descended into street battles and looting.
Mobile phone networks had been turned off in 15 cities in an effort to frustrate the ability of crowds to organise themselves, but it appeared to have no effect and services were restored well before the originally advertised time of 6pm.
In Lahore the grand colonial-era Mall Road was the setting for skirmishes by demonstrators who also attempted to approach the US consulate in the city.
In Karachi, where two people were killed, including a police officer, rioters torched police vans, looted shops and even attacked the port city's fire brigade.
And for a second day running in the normally sedate capital of Islamabad violence was concentrated in front of the five-star Serena hotel, which is on a road that leads to the fenced entrance of the diplomatic quarter where the US embassy is located.
While police succeeded in holding back the several thousand strong crowd they also battled to prevent more protesters entering the city from the south.
"America has challenged the Muslim nation by making this movie," said a 19-year-old called Mohammad Fayyaz, who kept his face covered as he joined the violence in the capital. "We will not go until the man who made the film is hanged."
The US embassy continued a vigorous campaign of public diplomacy, which in recent days has included television and radio adverts featuring the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, emphasising that the US government had nothing to do with the production of the film.
Yesterday the acting ambassador, Richard Hoagland, met government officials to once again reiterate that Washington "condemned this video's content and its message".
Critics have lambasted the Pakistani government's decision to make Friday a national holiday, saying it was hijacked by hardline religious parties, many of them fronts for banned terrorist organisations, who used the national strike as a chance to demonstrate their street power.
Raza Rumi, a prominent analyst and newspaper columnist, said the government had chosen a policy of appeasement.
"The government is under immense pressure to appear as Islamic and as pious as anyone," he said. "But it could have chosen an alternative strategy of engaging with the various religious groups and launched a public campaign to educate people rather than letting them take to the streets."
Earlier in the day the prime minister addressed a gathering of politicians and top clerics in Islamabad. He called for peaceful protests, but also used language likely to inflame the many protesters who have claimed the video is part of a plot involving Jewish, Israeli and US interest.
"It is ironical that denial of Holocaust is considered a crime but no consideration is paid to the feelings of Muslims," he said. "I hope the international community and Islamic world will be successful in preventing such things."
If the intention of the government was to burnish its Islamic credentials in the runup to an election in the next six months, many protesters were not convinced.
"[President Asif Ali] Zardari is a man with no grace, he should resign," said Tabarak Lateef, a 22-year-old protester in Islamabad. "Our rulers are traitors, they are American slaves and they should be ashamed of themselves."
[Kylen H.]
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of all major cities, with many p
rotests descending into serious unrest that killed at least 15 people, injured around 120 and did significant damage to businesses.
In street battles across the country, protesters threw objects at police, who retaliated with teargas canisters and live rounds, mostly shot into the air.
Three people were killed in Peshawar, close to the Afghan border, as mobs attacked buildings, including a number of cinemas that were set on fire.
One victim was the driver of a broadcast truck owned by the television network ARY who was caught in police fire. He later died of his wounds in hospital but not before the television station broadcast continuous loops of him in obvious pain being attended to in an emergency room.
In many places crowds were able to break through barricades erected by police, who struggled to control mobs enraged by the blasphemous video Innocence of Muslims that sparked the crisis.
Images streaming in from all over the country on Pakistan's cable news cha
nnels got steadily grimmer as what the government had billed as "Love of Prophet Muhammad Day" wore on and protests descended into street battles and looting.
Mobile phone networks had been turned off in 15 cities in an effort to frustrate the ability of crowds to organise themselves, but it appeared to have no effect and services were restored well before the originally advertised time of 6pm.
In Lahore the grand colonial-era Mall Road was the setting for skirmishes by demonstrators who also attempted to approach the US consulate in the city.
In Karachi, where two people were killed, including a police officer, rioters torched police vans, looted shops and even attacked the port city's fire brigade.
And for a second day running in the normally sedate capital of Islamabad violence was concentrated in front of the five-star Serena hotel, which is on a road that leads to the fenced entrance of the diplomatic quarter where the US embassy is located.
While police succeeded in holding back the several thousand strong crowd they also battled to prevent more protesters entering the city from the south.
"America has challenged the Muslim nation by making this movie," said a 19-year-old called Mohammad Fayyaz, who kept his face covered as he joined the violence in the capital. "We will not go until the man who made the film is hanged."
The US embassy continued a vigorous campaign of public diplomacy, which in recent days has included television and radio adverts featuring the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, emphasising that the US government had nothing to do with the production of the film.
Yesterday the acting ambassador, Richard Hoagland, met government officials to once again reiterate that Washington "condemned this video's content and its message".
Critics have lambasted the Pakistani government's decision to make Friday a national holiday, saying it was hijacked by hardline religious parties, many of them fronts for banned terrorist organisations, who used the national strike as a chance to demonstrate their street power.
Raza Rumi, a prominent analyst and newspaper columnist, said the government had chosen a policy of appeasement.
"The government is under immense pressure to appear as Islamic and as pious as anyone," he said. "But it could have chosen an alternative strategy of engaging with the various religious groups and launched a public campaign to educate people rather than letting them take to the streets."
Earlier in the day the prime minister addressed a gathering of politicians and top clerics in Islamabad. He called for peaceful protests, but also used language likely to inflame the many protesters who have claimed the video is part of a plot involving Jewish, Israeli and US interest.
"It is ironical that denial of Holocaust is considered a crime but no consideration is paid to the feelings of Muslims," he said. "I hope the international community and Islamic world will be successful in preventing such things."
If the intention of the government was to burnish its Islamic credentials in the runup to an election in the next six months, many protesters were not convinced.
"[President Asif Ali] Zardari is a man with no grace, he should resign," said Tabarak Lateef, a 22-year-old protester in Islamabad. "Our rulers are traitors, they are American slaves and they should be ashamed of themselves."
[Kylen H.]
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