Pakistani riot police charge Muslim demonstrators attempting to reach the US embassy during a protest against an anti-Islam film in Islamabad on September 21, 2012. A Pakistani policeman and a driver for a television station were shot dead during a day of protests condemning a film made in the United States and deemed insulting to Islam, officials said. (Image Credit AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Protests against the anti-Islam film produced in the United States have again turned deadly.
In Pakistan, tens of thousands turned out to show their anger over the film. Rioters threw rocks and set fire to buildings in some cities, and police fired tear gas and live ammunition to try to subdue them. Three people were killed and dozens were injured.
Pakistan's government declared today a holiday so that people could rally against the video.
In the city of Peshawar, police fired on rioters who were torching a movie theater. A reporter for a Pakistani TV station says a driver who worked for the station was killed when police bullets hit his vehicle. A demonstrator also died. Police in Karachi say armed protesters fired on police, killing one and wounding another. They say the crowd also burned two movie theaters and a bank.
In Lahore and Islamabad, police fired tear gas and warning shots to try to keep crowds from advancing toward the U.S. missions.
Thousands of Muslims protested in at least a half-dozen other countries. In Iraq, about 3,000 protesters condemned the film and caricatures of the prophet in a French satirical weekly. Protesters burned Israeli and American flags.
In Sri Lanka, about 2,000 Muslims burned effigies of Obama and American flags after Friday prayers. About 2,000 people marched through the streets of the capital of Bangladesh.