Pakistan, Nigeria, Kashmir see protests after Khamenei killing | Kuwait Times Newspaper (original) (raw)

SRINAGAR/KARACHI/KANO: Violent protests erupted across several countries following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Zionist entity strikes, leaving at least 25 people dead in Pakistan alone and triggering demonstrations from Nigeria to Indian-administered Kashmir.

In Pakistan, protests broke out in major cities including Karachi, Islamabad, and parts of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, as thousands took to the streets to condemn the attack.

Skardu, normally a tourist hotspot in Shi’ite-majority Gilgit-Baltistan, saw the deadliest violence. Protesters set fire to a United Nations office, and 14 people—including a soldier—were killed in the ensuing clashes, local officials said. Ghulam Abbas, Gilgit-Baltistan’s information minister, said the military was deployed for three days and a curfew imposed in Gilgit and Skardu “to maintain law and order.”

SRINGAR: Demonstrators hold a portrait of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Srinagar on March 2, 2026.

Death from gunshots

In Karachi, 10 people died on Sunday as protesters stormed the US consulate and breached the compound’s outer wall. Roadblocks and heavy police presence were established around the consulates in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Two more people were killed in Islamabad as thousands gathered carrying portraits of Khamenei. “People were martyred, there were riots,” Karachi resident Dodo Chandio said. “Roads are blocked for the second day in Karachi, people are distressed.”

Hospital records seen by AFP showed that nine of the deaths were caused by gunshot wounds. Demonstrators chanted slogans against the United States and the Zionist entity, while some young protesters climbed over the main gate of a consular building and smashed windows before police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. “We don’t need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US,” protester Sabir Hussain said.

In Islamabad, two more people were killed as thousands gathered carrying portraits of Khamenei. AFP journalists saw police using tear gas near the diplomatic enclave that houses the US embassy.

Protests also took place in the northern cities of Parachinar, Dera Ismail Khan, and Peshawar, though no clashes were reported there. Funeral processions for those killed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Karachi, and Islamabad were planned for Monday, and Shi’ite community leaders called for more demonstrations in Lahore and Karachi despite the government ban on public gatherings

Protests in Nigeria

Protests were also held thousands of kilometers away in northern Nigeria, where members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria marched through several cities carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei. In Kano, the country’s largest northern city, protesters walked about five kilometers from a mosque to the group’s headquarters while chanting slogans against the United States and the Zionist entity. “The attacks show the insincerity and unreliability of the United States and (the Zionist entity) which launched the attacks in the middle of negotiations,” protest leader Umar Yakubu said. Yakubu urged supporters not to resort to violence and to follow instructions from the group’s leader Ibrahim Zakzaky.

Clashes in Kashmir

In Indian-administered Kashmir, clashes continued for a second consecutive day as thousands protested the killing of the Iranian leader. Authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and restricted movement by barricading major roads after Muslim organizations called for a strike.

Police fired tear gas after protesters attempted to march toward Srinagar’s main square, which had been sealed off. Demonstrations were also reported across other parts of the Kashmir Valley, where protesters waved Iranian and Hezbollah-linked flags and carried portraits of Khamenei and other regional figures. “Minimum teargas shelling was resorted to when they did not heed warnings to stop,” a police officer said.

Kashmir, which has a significant number of Shia Muslims, shares ancient connections with Iran, whose scholars are credited with introducing Islam and many fine handicrafts to the region. Khamenei was given a momentous welcome during his only visit to the territory in the early 1980s. On Sunday, the territory’s chief minister Omar Abdullah — who does not control the security forces — said mourners should be “allowed to grieve peacefully” and police should “refrain from using force or restrictive measures”. — Agencies