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Pakistani Muslim demonstrators shout anti-U.S. slogans as they attempt to reach the U.S. Embassy during a protest in Islamabad on Sept. 20. (Aamir QureshiAFP/GettyImages)
Pakistan deployed the army to disperse thousands of protesters, some armed with clubs, who were marching on the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan in the capital, Islamabad.
The protesters were demonstrating against the crudely made “Innocence of Muslims” film, which negatively depicts the Prophet Muhammad and Islam, triggering protests across the Arab and Muslim world.
At least 36 people were injured Thursday after police used live rounds and fired tear gas to fend off throngs of protesters, according to Geo TV. The police and army were deployed to protect the diplomatic enclave in Islamabad, where the U.S., French, and British embassies are located.
There were at least 1,000 student protesters, some armed with clubs, who clashed with police, reported The Associated Press. Some of the students were supporters of the hard-line Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party.
“Our policemen are not any better than the Americans because they are trying to stop us. They are in the same league as them, they are heretics like them,” student Jawad Ahmed said, according to Al-Jazeera.
“They should allow us to demolish the American embassy because they have blasphemed against our holy Prophet. The police are also becoming an accomplice of blasphemers.”
Anti-American demonstrations against the film have taken place across the world, starting in Egypt when protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, climbing the walls of the facility and replacing an American flag with a black one.
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