Mob ransacks cinema halls in anti-Islam film protests in Pak - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

It was a day of protests against an anti-Islam film on Friday here. Angry protestors set fire to two cinemas in the country's northwestern city of Peshawar. According to the police, enraged protestors armed with clubs and bamboo poles attacked Firdaus cinema hall. One protester was wounded when the cinema guard opened fire to control the crowd. Another crowd stormed Shama cinema and also set it on fire. Tens of thousands of Pakistanis were expected to take to the streets across the country after the government called an impromptu public holiday to let people protest against the anti-Islam film made by an Israeli-American, reports The Dawn. Authorities in Peshawar used shipping containers to block roads leading to the U.S. consulate, the offices of Western aid organisations and other sensitive areas. Security elsewhere in the country was tight, with shops and businesses closed and usually busy streets deserted, after calls from all the major political and religious parties for a day of protest. The authorities shut down the mobile phone network in major cities across the country in an effort to avoid violence.

Mob ransacks cinema halls during anti-Islam film protests in Peshawar