KARACHI, March 2, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The death toll from Pakistan's violent 
weekend protests over the killing of Iran's supreme leader has reached at 
least 25, according to an AFP tally on Monday.

Demonstrations erupted in several major cities in Pakistan, including the 
southern megacity of Karachi where some protesters attempted to storm 
American diplomatic buildings.

An AFP journalist witnessed hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters trying to 
enter the United States consulate, prompting clashes with police.

At least 10 deaths were reported and over 70 were injured, the office of the 
Karachi police surgeon said, while a hospital toll seen by AFP listed nine 
people as having died from gunshot wounds.

In Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, at least 13 people were 
killed in clashes between protesters and police, officials said.

Seven people were killed in Gilgit, a rescue official said, while six others 
died in Skardu, a doctor told AFP on Monday.

Authorities have imposed a late-night curfew, which will remain in place 
until Wednesday in Gilgit and Skardu, where the army has been deployed on the 
streets.

Two more people were killed as thousands of people gathered in the streets of 
the capital, Islamabad, many holding photos of the late Iranian leader 
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

AFP journalists saw police firing tear gas to disperse crowds near the 
diplomatic enclave housing the US embassy on Sunday afternoon.

- 'Grief and sorrow' -

Israel and the United States launched their military operations on Iran early 
Saturday, quickly killing the long-ruling supreme leader and prompting 
outrage in neighbouring Pakistan.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has close ties with both the 
United States and Iran, said on Sunday evening that the killing of Khamenei 
was a "violation" of international law.

"It is an age old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be 
targeted," Sharif wrote on X.

The "people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and 
sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom" of Khamenei, 
he added.

At Sunday's Karachi protest, people chanted slogans against the United 
States, Israel and their allies.

"We don't need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US," a protester, 
Sabir Hussain, told AFP.

Earlier a crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access 
to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.

Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who dispersed, the AFP journalist 
saw.

The embassies of the United States and Britain both urged citizens in 
Pakistan to be cautious in the country.