Pakistanis burn Obama effigy and US flag

Hundreds of enraged Pakistanis have taken to the streets across the country, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and setting fire to US flags after 24 soldiers died in NATO air strikes.

The Sunday rallies were organised by opposition and right-wing Islamist groups in major cities of the nuclear-armed country of 167 million people, where opposition to the government's US alliance is rampant.

In Karachi, the port city used by the United States to ship supplies to troops fighting in Afghanistan, more than 700 people gathered outside the US consulate.

They shouted 'down with America, stay away Americans, Pakistan is ours, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our army', while Pakistani riot police were deployed near the consulate.

Outside the press club in Karachi, dozens of political activists burnt an effigy of Obama.

In the central city of Multan, more than 300 activists loyal to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as local traders took to the streets, burning US and NATO flags.

They carried placards and banners, and shouted 'down with America', 'down with NATO', 'Yankees go back', 'vacate Afghanistan and Pakistan' and 'stop drone attacks' - a reference to a CIA drone war against Islamist militants.


[link to www.skynews.com.au]