Pakistan sends rescue workers to Syria as earthquake deaths exceed 37,000 in region
Pakistan sends rescue workers to Syria as earthquake deaths exceed 37,000 in region/node/2250826/pakistan
Pakistan sends rescue workers to Syria as earthquake deaths exceed 37,000 in region
Pakistani rescue workers are standing next to the special chartered PIA flight with relief goods for the earthquake victims of Syria, before taking off from Islamabad, Pakistan on February 14, 2023. (Photo courtesy: @GovtofPakistan/Twitter)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday sent a team of paramedics and rescue workers to Syria in the wake of an earthquake that hit the Arab country along with neighboring Turkiye, causing major devastation.
According to official figures, the overall death toll in the region has cross 37,000. Syria has lost over 5,800 people while more than 31,500 individuals have been killed in Turkiye which has suffered more destruction.
Pakistan top political leadership reached out to both countries while trying to help them with rescue and relief activities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also spoke with his Syrian counterpart, Hussein Arnous, over the weekend and promised to send more humanitarian assistance.
“On the instructions of the prime minister, the NDMA has dispatched 20-member medical and rescue teams for the earthquake victims of Syria,” said an official statement released in Islamabad. “The relief delegation for Syria consists of 10 doctors from [Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences] and a 10-member rescue team from [Capital Development Authority.”
The Pakistani team has been taken to Damascus on a Pakistan International Airlines flight which is also carrying relief goods for quake-affected people.
The supplies include 131 winter family tents and 3,966 kilograms of medicines.
The official statement said the team will participate in urban search and rescue operations in the quake-hit region of Syria which is also in the midst of a war.
ISLAMABAD: At least eight people were killed in clashes near the US Consulate in Karachi on Sunday, the Edhi Foundation said, as protests erupted across parts of Pakistan following Iran’s confirmation that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint US–Israeli strikes.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the consulate on Sunday morning, with some attempting to storm the compound and vandalizing property, according to footage circulating on social media and international news reports.
Videos showed protesters armed with sticks smashing doors and windows. Separate footage appeared to show property inside the consulate premises set on fire. International media outlets reported that police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowd.
“The number of people killed during the firing and unrest near the American Consulate on Mai Kolachi Road has risen to eight,” the Edhi Foundation, a major charity and rescue organization, said in a statement.
Police officers take position outside US Consulate following protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 1, 2026. (AN photo)
Speaking to Arab News, Edhi Foundation Chairman Faisal Edhi said over 30 people were injured apart from the eight killed. He said some of the injured were critically wounded, adding that the death toll could increase.
Edhi said protesters were shot by the security personnel from inside the US consulate.
Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar directed authorities to strengthen security around sensitive installations as unrest intensified.
“No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands,” Lanjar said in a statement issued by his office.
He added that law enforcement agencies were fully alert and monitoring the situation, and vowed that action would be taken in accordance with the law against those disturbing public order.
The violence came hours after Iranian authorities confirmed Khamenei was killed in coordinated strikes carried out by the United States and Israel, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and triggering protests in several countries.
PROTESTS SPREAD
Demonstrations were also reported in Skardu, in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, where hundreds of people staged a sit-in on a main road to protest Khamenei’s killing.
Smoke billows over building in Skardu, Pakistan, on March 1, 2026, as protesters set UN office in district on fire. (Social media)
Shabbir Mir, spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister, told Arab News that a United Nations office in the district had been set on fire.
“The protesters have torched an UN office in Skardu,” Mir confirmed.
The unrest in Pakistan follows a sharp escalation in the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes in Iran on Saturday.
According to US officials, the operation targeted Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. The US military said it suffered no casualties and reported minimal damage to its bases despite what it described as “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.”
Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Israeli ally UAE said its air defense systems intercepted dozens of Iranian missiles and drones, but debris from the interceptions caused material damage in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and at least one civilian, including a Pakistani national, was killed.
The UAE government condemned the strikes as a “blatant violation of national sovereignty and international law,” and issued rare emergency alerts urging residents to seek shelter, underscoring how the conflict has rippled far beyond Iran’s borders.
The Israeli military said dozens of Iranian missiles were fired toward Israeli territory, many of which were intercepted. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said a woman in the Tel Aviv area died after being wounded in a missile strike.
