Pakistan: Police open fire on US embassy protesters

Police fire tear gas at protesters (AFP/Getty Images)

At least 11 people were injured yesterday as police fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse more than 1,000 protesters who were attempting to attack the US embassy in Islamabad, angered by a film that mocks the Prophet Mohamed.

Streets leading to the guarded enclave, where embassies are housed, had been blocked by the Pakistani authorities.

Although the crowd eventually dispersed peacefully, demonstrations are expected to grow in Pakistan today, the Muslim day of prayer. The government has declared today a national holiday so that people can come out and demonstrate peacefully against the amateur film. Tensions have also been inflamed by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed in a French magazine this week.