ISLAMABAD: Thousands of protesters rallied in cities across Pakistan on Friday, answering the call of major religio-political parties to condemn ongoing US-Israeli strikes on Iran and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The demonstrations come amid a volatile regional climate marked by Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel and US interests in the Gulf.
Khamenei was killed in the first hours of the US-Israeli air campaign that began on Saturday in the first assassination of a country’s top ruler by an airstrike.
The joint air assault, now nearing the end of its first week, has sparked violent unrest in Pakistan. At least 26 protesters have been killed in clashes with law enforcement since the war began in the region last Saturday.
In the capital, a protest was held outside the central Imam Bargah in Sector G-6 under the banner of the Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM). The protest drew hundreds of participants, according to MWM Islamabad leader Mazhar Shigri.
