Two unnamed U.S. officials familiar with preliminary information regarding protesters' March 1 storming of the U.S. Consulate compound in Karachi, Pakistan, say U.S. Marine security guards fired on protesters during the incident, Reuters reported on March 2. It remains unclear whether other security personnel also fired at demonstrators and whether Marines were directly responsible for any of the 10 fatalities linked to the clashes at the compound.

The incident at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi was among several anti-U.S. and anti-Israel protests that erupted in Pakistan in the wake of Feb. 28 joint Israel-U.S. strikes on Iran that ultimately killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials. Popular anger with the Feb. 28 strikes was particularly intense in Pakistan, given the country's sizable Shiite community and broader preexisting anti-U.S. and anti-Israel sentiment fueled by Israeli and U.S. military action in the Middle East in recent years.