Protesters gathered in the main market square in Bannu, Pakistan, chanting 'Death to the government of France', before setting fire to dozens of French flags and an effigy of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

As the anger mounted, some demonstrators even set fire to an inverted Italian flag, which they mistakenly thought belonged to France. 

A second effigy destroyed in the protest was said to represent the editor of the Charlie Hebdo, the magazine which was subject to a brutal attack earlier this month, after two masked jihadist gunmen stormed the Paris headquarters and killed 12 people.

The dramatic scenes came as more than 2,000 Iranians protested outside the French embassy in Tehran, shouting 'Death to French' and urging the ambassador to be expelled.

Hundreds of thousands of people also gathered in the Russian region of Chechnya, amid growing anger over the publication's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

The image has angered many Muslims as depictions of Mohammed are widely considered forbidden in Islam. It has also triggered protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, some of which turned deadly.  

Iran denounced the Paris massacre but it also condemned the magazine's new cartoon, where the prophet holds a 'Je suis Charlie' sign under the heading 'All is forgiven'.

Plans for today's protest also led the French ambassador to announce that the embassy, located in busy downtown Tehran, would be closed all day. 

Meanwhile, in Grozny, protesters marched through the streets of downtown Grozny, releasing balloons and carrying posters that read 'Hands off our beloved prophet' and 'Europe has only united us'.

'More than 800,000 people took part in the event in the centre of Grozny,' the Russian interior ministry said. 

On Friday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his official Instagram account that those who defended Charlie Hebdo were his 'personal enemies', and vowed that at least 1 million people would join the government-sponsored protest in Grozny. 

(dailymail.co.uk)