Anti-US protests across Pakistan have intensified following Friday prayers, particularly in the city of Karachi. It has been reported that Islamic militants fired on police during running battles. At least four people were admitted to hospital with bullet wounds.
Protesters and police have fought pitched battles since police returned to the west of the city after losing control of the situation earlier.
They had fired tear gas at the crowd of around 3,000 and live ammunition into the air in a bid to control the stone-throwing crowd. As radicals from other parts of the city came to the west, police retreated when it became clear they could not establish superiority.
However, they returned to the crowd, which had grown to around 20,000, and clashes spread into the central district of the city of some 12 million people. Demonstrators are angry at continuing US-led airstrikes against neighbouring Afghanistan.
Tension is high throughout Pakistan, where protestors are also expressing anger at the government's decision to allow American forces to use its air bases. The cities of Karachi and Peshawar are among those which have seen government buildings, shops, fast food restaurants, and vehicles attacked.
Troops were deployed in several cities, such as Quetta, in anticipation of more serious clashes after afternoon prayers at mosques across the city.
A government complaints office was attacked earlier in the industrial area of western Karachi, and factories in the south of the cities have also reportedly come under attack.
The west of the city is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, many of whom are refugees from Afghanistan. The Pashtuns are the dominant tribe in Afghanistan and form the main support base for the ruling Taliban.
Radicals in several other predominantly Muslim countries have demonstrated their anger at the continuing US-led air strikes. In the capitals of Malaysia and Indonesia, police fired water cannon at hundreds of demonstrators outside the United States embassies.
In Iran, protestors attacked the Pakistani consulate in the south-eastern city of Zahedan, near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistani authorities have warned that any Afghans arrested during protests will be deported back to their native country. The country's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, has ordered a policy of zero tolerance of any protestors engaged in violence.
The country's Islamic religious parties have called for a nationwide strike on Monday to protest against a planned visit by the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
The Pakistani government meanwhle says it is standing by its commitment to provide logistical support for US air strikes on Afghanistan. Yesterday it confirmed that US forces were stationed within its borders. Government spokesman Rashid Qureshi confirmed that the US was using two airbases in the country.
