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Seven people have been killed in Afghanistan as violence spread across the country in a second day of protests against the burning of copies of the Qur'an by foreign troops.
In Kabul an enraged crowd armed with stones and petrol bombs attacked a military base and a nearby compound housing foreign workers, shouting "Death to America".
Police fired into the air and used water cannon to try to control the protesters; security guards in the compound also used their rifles.
Eleven men were taken to hospital in the capital, Kabul, with gunshot wounds and one later died from his injuries, said Kabir Amiri, spokesman for the city's hospitals.
Four others were shot dead when police opened fire on protests in Parwan province, where authorities said demonstrations had become infiltrated by insurgents and extremely destructive. Thirteen were injured. Two others were killed at protests in Jalalabad and central Logar province.
"The constitution gives them the right to peaceful protests, but they were violent and destroying anything in their way, including government buildings," said Parwan province's police chief, General Mohammad Akram Bekzad.
"There were some militants among the protesters, who joined them and tried to use this as an opportunity."
Parwan is home to the sprawling Bagram airbase, where foreign troops sent religious documents, including copies of the Qur'an, for incineration on Monday evening.
The books were spotted by Afghan workers, who extinguished the flames and left with some of the damaged Qur'ans, which had been taken from prisoners in a detention centre on the base.
A military official, who asked not to be named, said the books had been removed from the jail library because some had inscriptions added that appeared to be being used to "facilitate extremist communications", or were extremist "in and of themselves".
Nato-led forces rushed to apologise for the burning, which the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, described as "not intentional".
The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, also issued an apology for "inappropriate treatment" of the copies of the Qur'an to try to contain fury over the incident.
But damage to the Qur'an is a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and protests began almost immediately.
"When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul told Reuters.
Kabul's police chief, Ayub Salangi, came to the most violent protest in the city to appeal for calm. "I am with you, please cool your temper, I am with you," he told the crowd. But protesters turned on him and started throwing stones at his car.
Salangi later told the Guardian that one officer had been injured by protesters who threw stones.
The US embassy ordered all staff to stay inside their compound, and the UN and many other embassies and foreign aid groups halted movements across Kabul.
"The embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there," the embassy's official Twitter feed said.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in other parts of Afghanistan to denounce the burning, including at Kabul University, central Logar province, and eastern Jalalabad city, where another five people were injured.
The southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's homeland, remained peaceful, local officials said. It was the site of some of the deadliest violence last April, when news that a US pastor had burned a Qur'an in Florida reached Afghanistan. Seven foreign UN workers and at least 13 Afghans were killed during protests that raged across the country for three days.
Afghanistan Qur'an burning protests leave seven people dead | World news | The Guardian
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---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
Last Year
In Kabul an enraged crowd armed with stones and petrol bombs attacked a military base and a nearby compound housing foreign workers, shouting "Death to America".
Police fired into the air and used water cannon to try to control the protesters; security guards in the compound also used their rifles.
Eleven men were taken to hospital in the capital, Kabul, with gunshot wounds and one later died from his injuries, said Kabir Amiri, spokesman for the city's hospitals.
Four others were shot dead when police opened fire on protests in Parwan province, where authorities said demonstrations had become infiltrated by insurgents and extremely destructive. Thirteen were injured. Two others were killed at protests in Jalalabad and central Logar province.
"The constitution gives them the right to peaceful protests, but they were violent and destroying anything in their way, including government buildings," said Parwan province's police chief, General Mohammad Akram Bekzad.
"There were some militants among the protesters, who joined them and tried to use this as an opportunity."
Parwan is home to the sprawling Bagram airbase, where foreign troops sent religious documents, including copies of the Qur'an, for incineration on Monday evening.
The books were spotted by Afghan workers, who extinguished the flames and left with some of the damaged Qur'ans, which had been taken from prisoners in a detention centre on the base.
A military official, who asked not to be named, said the books had been removed from the jail library because some had inscriptions added that appeared to be being used to "facilitate extremist communications", or were extremist "in and of themselves".
Nato-led forces rushed to apologise for the burning, which the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, described as "not intentional".
The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, also issued an apology for "inappropriate treatment" of the copies of the Qur'an to try to contain fury over the incident.
But damage to the Qur'an is a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and protests began almost immediately.
"When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul told Reuters.
Kabul's police chief, Ayub Salangi, came to the most violent protest in the city to appeal for calm. "I am with you, please cool your temper, I am with you," he told the crowd. But protesters turned on him and started throwing stones at his car.
Salangi later told the Guardian that one officer had been injured by protesters who threw stones.
The US embassy ordered all staff to stay inside their compound, and the UN and many other embassies and foreign aid groups halted movements across Kabul.
"The embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there," the embassy's official Twitter feed said.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in other parts of Afghanistan to denounce the burning, including at Kabul University, central Logar province, and eastern Jalalabad city, where another five people were injured.
The southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's homeland, remained peaceful, local officials said. It was the site of some of the deadliest violence last April, when news that a US pastor had burned a Qur'an in Florida reached Afghanistan. Seven foreign UN workers and at least 13 Afghans were killed during protests that raged across the country for three days.
Afghanistan Qur'an burning protests leave seven people dead | World news | The Guardian
---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 PM ----------
---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
Last Year
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