The assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani has triggered protest demonstrations in parts of Pakistan including Karachi as hundreds of protesters including women and children took to city roads to denounce the US military air strike in Baghdad International Airport which left Soleimani dead last Friday.

The protesters initially gathered outside Karachi Press Club (KPC) from various city neighbourhoods, and later begun marching towards the US Consulate, with the participants chanting anti-American slogans, amid heavy deployment of law enforcers.

The US consulate was already cordoned-off by the police, with the placement of cargo containers to avert any untoward incident.

Stringent security measures were also taken due to the protest rally. The roads leading to the US Consulate, including Moulvi Tameezuddin Khan Road, Mai Kolachi Bypass, Aiwan-e-Saddar road and Ziauddin Road in the red zone were closed by the city's traffic police.

The march was jointly organised by Shia Muslim organisations including Imamia Students' Organisation (ISO), Jafaria Students Organisation (JSO), Majlis-e-Wadat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), Shia Ullama Council (SUC) etc.. Addressing the rally religious scholars Ameen Shahidi and Mirza Yousaf condemned the US military strike.

Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack.

Maulana Ahmad Iqbal, Hassan Zafar Naqvi, Nazir Abbas Taqvi, Shahenshah Hussain Naqvi, Sadiq Raza Taqvi, and others also spoke on the occasion. The protest ended peacefully as no untoward incident was reported till filing of this report.