Afghan chimp out-

Bluto · Feb 22, 2012

Burn a Koran, wogs go wild, kill each o'er & shit-

Quran burning incites deadly riots in Afghanistan

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press – 53 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Clashes between Afghan troops and protesters angry over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left at least seven people dead and dozens wounded Wednesday as anger spread despite U.S. apologies over what it said was a mistake.

The demonstrations across four eastern provinces illustrated the intensity of Afghans' anger at what they saw as foreign forces flouting their laws and insulting their culture.

The violence was also a reminder of how easily Afghan-U.S. relations can deteriorate as the two countries work to forge a long-term partnership ahead of the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2014.

The unrest started Tuesday when Afghan workers at the main American military base, Bagram Air Field, saw soldiers dumping books in a pit where garbage is burned and noticed Qurans and other religious material among the trash.

The top U.S. and NATO commander, Gen. John Allen, quickly issued an apology and telephoned President Hamid Karzai and major news organizations to explain that a collection of religious materials, including Qurans, had been mistakenly sent to be incinerated. As soon as someone realized what they were burning, they stopped and retrieved what was left, Allen said.

Four copies of the Quran were burned before the incineration was halted, according to initial Afghan government reports.

Anger about the burning spread overnight. A single demonstration outside the Bagram base on Tuesday gave way to three protests in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, along with demonstrations in the major eastern city of Jalalabad and in Logar and Parwan province, where Bagram is located.

In Kabul, about 2,000 people massed outside a heavily guarded housing complex for foreigners, chanting "Death to America!" as they hurled rocks at the compound's reinforced walls and set a fuel truck ablaze. The complex — known as "green village" because it boasts security equal to a military base — houses foreign contractors, police and some coalition military forces.

Eighteen-year-old Mohammad Shaker said he first heard about the Quran burning on Tuesday, and he and other members of his mosque decided to take to the streets Wednesday after morning prayers.

"This is not the first time they're doing these things. They are killing civilians and taking photos of them. Every day they kill civilians with airstrikes. We can't accept their crimes in our country," Shaker said.

The demonstrations prompted the U.S. to lock down its embassy and bar its staff from traveling.

By nightfall, seven people had been killed — four in Parwan province and one each in Kabul, Jalalabad and Logar province, and dozens were wounded, the Interior Ministry said. In some cases, security guards or police were accused of shooting protesters, while in others, officials said the shooting started from within the mob of demonstrators.

The country's council of Muslim clerics called the apologies from U.S. authorities insufficient and said military officials should punish those responsible.

"Disrespecting religious materials is never acceptable," the council said, condemning what it called an "un-Islamic and inhumane act."

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