Islamabad: At least 11 people were injured on Thursday as police fired live rounds and tear gas to break up a crowd of around 1,000 students protesting in Islamabad against an anti-Islam film.
The demonstrators, many armed with wooden clubs, were driven back by police as they tried to reach Islamabad’s heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave, which is home to most Western embassies, including the US, British and French missions.
The crudely made film, produced in US, has triggered protests in at least 20 countries since excerpts were posted online, and more than 30 people have been killed in violence linked to the film.
There have been dozens of demonstrations around Pakistan over the past week and at least two people have been killed, but Thursday was the first time protests in the capital had turned violent.
Police fired tear gas and live rounds as the protesters, chanting “We are ready to die to safeguard the Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) honour”, tried to break through a barrier of truck containers set up to block access to the diplomatic enclave.
“I was ordered by my boss to disperse the crowd and that is why I had to open live fire, but the aim was nearby trees and not the demonstrators,” Zaman Khan, a police officer deployed at the picket, said.
The firing forced the protesters to scatter, but they later returned to pelt the police with stones.
At least five officers were hurt, police said, while a rescue worker said six protesters had suffered minor injuries.
A doctor on duty in the Federal Government Services Hospital, Razia Sultana, put the figure of injured at 15, saying that 10 were policemen and five protesters.
Student Asif Mahmoud demanded police let protesters through to the US embassy and urged harsh treatment for American pastor Terry Jones, who is notorious for past his religious book-burning episodes and is reportedly connected to the film.
“Terry Jones and the filmmaker should be sternly punished for playing with the feelings of Muslims. We will not tolerate this blasphemy,” Mahmoud said.
Fellow protester Rehan Ahmad said: “Islam is often ridiculed by America and the West and blasphemy is committed against our prophet in the name of freedom of expression.”
In the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan, around 100 Christians denounced the film in their own protest in the border town of Chaman, where trucks supplying Nato troops cross into Afghanistan.
They carried placards and banners that read “We are with Muslims against blasphemous film” and chanted “Down with America”.
Meanwhile, US state department issued a travel warning told its citizens not to travel to Pakistan.
Officials upgraded their ongoing caution about the travel risks in Pakistan, explicitly advising Americans to put off any non-essential travel to the country. They also “strongly urged” those who are already there to avoid protests and large gatherings.
The State Department said the presence of Al Qaida, Taliban elements, and “indigenous militant sectarian groups poses a potential danger to U.S. citizens throughout Pakistan.”
