An AFP photographer was shot during a rally in Pakistan protesting the the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo magazine. The issue portrays Mohammad, which Muslims consider insulting.
Pakistan condemned the violent slaughter of 17 people last week by radical Muslims, but violence broke out at Karachi during the protest.
In Karachi, clashes erupted when the protesters started heading toward the French Consulate. They began throwing stones at the police, who tried to push them back with water cannons and tear gas.
AFP news director Michele Leridon said photographer Asif Hassan was shot and wounded. He underwent surgery and “his life does not seem in danger,” Leridon said.
It was not clear how or by whom Hassan was shot. AFP is trying to find out if Hassan was targeted or accidentally shot.
Karachi police officer, Naseer Tanoly, said some of the protesters were armed and opened fire on the police, who fired into the air to disperse the crowd. The protesters were mostly students affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami political party.
But Umair Saeed, an official with the party’s student wing in Karachi, denied the students had weapons and blamed the police for opening fire.
There were other rallies around Pakistan without violence. There were rallies in Istanbul, Turkey, where protestors shouted “God is great” and carried banners with Osama Bin Laden’s face on one side and the Kouachi brothers on the other.
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