Related News
2 Afghans killed over plan to burn Quran
Source: Agencies |
September 13, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO people were killed yesterday in a third straight day of violent Afghan protests sparked by a United States pastor's threat to burn copies of the Quran.
Hundreds of Afghans kept up the angry demonstrations, some apparently unaware that pastor Terry Jones had dropped his plans. Two protesters were shot and killed in the eastern province of Logar, a district official said, taking the death toll since last Friday to three.
The furore over Jones's plan - a grave insult to Muslims who believe the Quran to be the literal word of God - overshadowed the lead-up to commemorations of the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on various targets, including the World Trade Center, in the US.
Other parts of the Muslim world saw protests last week but yesterday's violence was confined to Afghanistan, six days before a parliamentary election which the Taliban has vowed to disrupt.
The United Nations' top diplomat in Afghanistan has said the protests risk delaying the election and warned that the Taliban, which has vowed to continue fighting until nearly 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan have left, could try to exploit popular anger over the issue.
Poor security is already a major concern ahead of the vote, with more than 1,000 polling centres out of a planned 6,835 to remain closed.
Yesterday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said a Taliban commander who had been plotting rocket attacks on polling stations had been killed in eastern Nangarghar a day earlier.
The election is seen as a key test of stability in Afghanistan before President Barack Obama conducts a strategy review of the increasingly unpopular war in December.
Angry protesters chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Christians" clashed with security forces in Logar, south of the capital, yesterday.
Hundreds of Afghans kept up the angry demonstrations, some apparently unaware that pastor Terry Jones had dropped his plans. Two protesters were shot and killed in the eastern province of Logar, a district official said, taking the death toll since last Friday to three.
The furore over Jones's plan - a grave insult to Muslims who believe the Quran to be the literal word of God - overshadowed the lead-up to commemorations of the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on various targets, including the World Trade Center, in the US.
Other parts of the Muslim world saw protests last week but yesterday's violence was confined to Afghanistan, six days before a parliamentary election which the Taliban has vowed to disrupt.
The United Nations' top diplomat in Afghanistan has said the protests risk delaying the election and warned that the Taliban, which has vowed to continue fighting until nearly 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan have left, could try to exploit popular anger over the issue.
Poor security is already a major concern ahead of the vote, with more than 1,000 polling centres out of a planned 6,835 to remain closed.
Yesterday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said a Taliban commander who had been plotting rocket attacks on polling stations had been killed in eastern Nangarghar a day earlier.
The election is seen as a key test of stability in Afghanistan before President Barack Obama conducts a strategy review of the increasingly unpopular war in December.
Angry protesters chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Christians" clashed with security forces in Logar, south of the capital, yesterday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
