12 killed as protests over Quran burning spread in Afghanistan
Source: Agencies |
February 25, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TWELVE people were killed yesterday in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan over the desecration of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO military base with riot police and soldiers on high alert braced for more violence.
The burning of the Qurans at the Bagram compound earlier this week has deepened public mistrust of NATO forces struggling to stabilize Afghanistan before foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.
Hundreds of Afghans marched toward the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, while on the other side of the capital protesters hoisted the white flag of the Taliban.
Chanting "Death to America!" and "Long live Islam!" protesters also threw rocks at police in Kabul, while Afghan army helicopters circled above.
Friday is a holy day and the official weekly holiday in Afghanistan and mosques in the capital drew large crowds, with police in pick-up trucks posted on nearby streets.
Armed protesters took refuge in shops in the eastern part of the city, where they killed one demonstrator, said police at the scene. In another Kabul rally, police said they were unsure who fired the shots that killed a second protester.
Seven more protesters were killed in the western province of Herat, two more in eastern Khost Province and one in the relatively peaceful northern Baghlan Province, health and local officials said. In Herat, around 500 men charged at the United States consulate.
US President Barack Obama had sent a letter to Karzai apologizing for the unintentional burning of the Qurans at NATO's main Bagram air base, north of Kabul, after Afghan laborers found charred copies while collecting rubbish.
To Afghanistan's west, Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami said the US had purposely burned the Qurans. "These apologies are fake. The world should know that America is against Islam," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio. "It (the Quran burning) was not a mistake. It was an intentional move, done on purpose."
Most Westerners have been confined to their heavily fortified compounds, including at the sprawling US Embassy complex in Kabul and other diplomatic missions, as protests that have killed a total of 23 people, including two American soldiers, rolled into their fourth day.
The embassy, in a message on the microblogging site Twitter, urged US citizens to "please be safe out there" and expanded movement restrictions to relatively peaceful northern provinces, where large demonstrations also occurred on Thursday, including the attempted storming of a Norwegian military base.
The burning of the Qurans at the Bagram compound earlier this week has deepened public mistrust of NATO forces struggling to stabilize Afghanistan before foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.
Hundreds of Afghans marched toward the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, while on the other side of the capital protesters hoisted the white flag of the Taliban.
Chanting "Death to America!" and "Long live Islam!" protesters also threw rocks at police in Kabul, while Afghan army helicopters circled above.
Friday is a holy day and the official weekly holiday in Afghanistan and mosques in the capital drew large crowds, with police in pick-up trucks posted on nearby streets.
Armed protesters took refuge in shops in the eastern part of the city, where they killed one demonstrator, said police at the scene. In another Kabul rally, police said they were unsure who fired the shots that killed a second protester.
Seven more protesters were killed in the western province of Herat, two more in eastern Khost Province and one in the relatively peaceful northern Baghlan Province, health and local officials said. In Herat, around 500 men charged at the United States consulate.
US President Barack Obama had sent a letter to Karzai apologizing for the unintentional burning of the Qurans at NATO's main Bagram air base, north of Kabul, after Afghan laborers found charred copies while collecting rubbish.
To Afghanistan's west, Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami said the US had purposely burned the Qurans. "These apologies are fake. The world should know that America is against Islam," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio. "It (the Quran burning) was not a mistake. It was an intentional move, done on purpose."
Most Westerners have been confined to their heavily fortified compounds, including at the sprawling US Embassy complex in Kabul and other diplomatic missions, as protests that have killed a total of 23 people, including two American soldiers, rolled into their fourth day.
The embassy, in a message on the microblogging site Twitter, urged US citizens to "please be safe out there" and expanded movement restrictions to relatively peaceful northern provinces, where large demonstrations also occurred on Thursday, including the attempted storming of a Norwegian military base.
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