At least 10 pro-Iranian protesters were killed in clashes with police as they tried to storm the gates of the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan’s main port city of Karachi on Sunday.

Security forces opened fire at the Consulate, resulting in the deaths 10 protesters, with 34 injured, said Sukhdew Assardas Hamnani, a spokesperson for the Sindh government. “The police reached the site and took the situation into control,” he said.

Faisal Edhi, who runs Edhi Foundation, a rescue service, said several of those injured were in a serious condition and the death toll could rise further.

Police opened fire on the protesters who were attempting to break into the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Edhi said. Local media reported that hundreds of people had gathered at the building on Sunday morning to condemn the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in coordinated attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

Protests also erupted in Pakistan’s mountainous region of Gilgit Baltistan, which has a large Shiite population, the common faith in Iran. There were unconfirmed reports on social media that some offices of the United Nations in Gilgit Baltistan were attacked. Ghulam Abbas, caretaker minister of information in the region, said by phone there were protests in some districts and reports of some offices being damaged, although he couldn’t confirm if they were U.N. buildings.

In the capital Islamabad, traffic police closed the main roads leading to the U.S. Embassy and local authorities invoked rules prohibiting large gatherings in public.

Even so, protesters were trying to march toward the embassy in Islamabad on Sunday, with police using tear gas to push them back, according to Islamabad police spokesperson Sharifullah Khan.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said it’s monitoring reports of protests in Karachi and Lahore, warning citizens to take precautions.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday condemned the attacks on Iran and said “Pakistan has supported Iran through every possible diplomatic and moral means.”

“If we turn protests within our country into violence or take the law into our own hands, it will benefit the enemy’s schemes,” he said in a post on X. “It is the responsibility of all of us to keep our emotions in check, ensure protests remain peaceful, and avoid any unrest or damage within the country.”

Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif offered his condolences to the people of Iran on Khamenei’s death.

“Pakistan also expresses concern over violation of the norms of international law,” he said in a post on X. “It is an age old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be targeted.”

Pakistan’s Shiite Muslims make up 10% to 15% of the population — a large majority in the Sunni-dominated country. Pakistan is home to the third-largest Shiite community after Iran and Iraq. A 2015 survey by Pew Research Center showed that Pakistan was the only country where a majority of respondents — 57% — viewed Iran favorably.

In 2020, the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. strike in Baghdad sparked large protests in Karachi and Islamabad.

In neighboring India, protesters also gathered in the main city of Jammu and Kashmir, the country’s only Muslim-majority region, to condemn the killing of Khamenei. Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the region, called for calm and said police should “exercise utmost restraint and refrain from using force or restrictive measures.”

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(With assistance from Anup Roy.)

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