Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Tens of thousands of Muslims protest over Macron remarks after killings in France

Tens of thousands of Muslims protested in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Palestinian territories on Friday (30) after killings in a French church prompted a vow from president Emmanuel Macron to stand firm against attacks on French values and freedom of belief.

French interior minister Gerald Damarnin said France - home to Europe's largest Muslim community and hit by a string of militant attacks in recent years - was engaged in a war against Islamist ideology and more attacks were likely.


In Pakistan, police briefly fired tear gas at protesters who broke through security blockades in Islamabad in a failed attempt to demonstrate at the French Embassy against the printing in France of images depicting the prophet Mohammad.

Protests and gatherings marking the occasion were also held in the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

In Bangladesh, tens of thousands marched through Dhaka, the capital, chanting "Boycott French products" and carrying banners calling Macron "the world’s biggest terrorist".

"Macron is leading Islamophobia," said Dhaka demonstrator Akramul Haq. "He doesn't know the power of Islam. The Muslim world will not let this go in vain. We'll rise and stand in solidarity against him."

Some Bangladeshi demonstrators also burned effigies of Macron and carried cutouts of the president with a garland of shoes around his neck, a severe insult according to Islam.

In a Muslim-majority district of India's financial hub Mumbai, some 100 posters showing Macron with a boot on his face and calling him a "demon" were pasted on pavements and roads.

In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas to drive back some 300 protesters including supporters of a local Sunni Islamist party who marched from a mosque in the capital Beirut to the official residence of the French ambassador.

Thousands of Palestinian worshippers rallied after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, in Jerusalem's walled Old City to condemn the republication of Mohammad caricatures in France. "A nation whose leader is Mohammad will not be defeated," protesters chanted.

"We hold the French president responsible for acts of chaos and violence that are taking place in France because of his comments against Islam and against Muslims," said Ikrima Sabri, the preacher who delivered the sermon at al Aqsa.

In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinians trampled on a large French flag and burned other French flags.

In Gaza, ruled by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, hundreds of Palestinians took part in anti-France rallies, chanting: "With our souls and blood we will redeem the Prophet."

SOMALI CURSES, CALLS TO BOYCOTT

Thousands in Somalia turned up for Friday prayers in mosques where sermons were dominated by curses and condemnation of Macron and his government.

Abdirahman Hussein Mohamed,, a shopkeeper in the capital Mogadishu, set aside all French products including face wash, perfumes and other cosmetics with a large sign, "NOT FOR SALE".

"I will never sell those products...as long as France does not apologise. France insulted our prophet," Mohamed told Reuters. Some women shoppers agreed.

"I used to be one of the consumers of French cosmetics. Now I will no longer buy," said Anisa Ahmed, 22. "I will look for products of other countries."

Russian police detained around 15 people in Moscow after dozens gathered outside the French Embassy to protest against Macron. Some of the protesters stamped on portraits of Macron and chanted "Allahu Akbar".

FRANCE RAISES SECURITY ALERT

France raised its security alert to the highest level on Thursday after a knife-wielding man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) beheaded an elderly woman in a church and killed two more people before being shot and taken away by police.

"We will not give any ground," Macron said outside Notre Dame Basilica in the French Riviera city of Nice. France had been attacked "over our values, for our taste for freedom, for the ability on our soil to have freedom of belief", he added.

The violence coincided with growing Muslim anger over France's defence of the right to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, after an Islamist sympathiser decapitated a French teacher earlier this month for showing such images to pupils during a civics lesson.

AUSTRALIAN, INDIAN LEADERS BACK FRANCE

Several leaders in Asia, including Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, expressed solidarity with Macron and France.

"It is just the most callous and cowardly and vicious act of barbarism by terrorists and should be condemned in the strongest possible way," Morrison said. "We share values (with France). We stand for the same things."

He also condemned as absurd comments by ex-Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad that Muslims had a right to be angry and kill "millions of French people for the massacres of the past". Mahathir said his comments were taken out of context.

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less