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| Afghanistan | |||
| Five Killed in Afghan Protests over Quran Burning | |||
| 2012-02-23 | |||
At least five Afghans were rubbed out and dozens maimed Wednesday in festivities between police and demonstrators protesting over the burning of the Koran at a U.S.-run military base, officials said. In the capital Kabul and in provinces to the east, north and south of the capital, furious Afghans erupted into the streets screaming "Death to America™", throwing rocks and setting fire to shops and vehicles as gunshots rang out. In the eastern city Jalalabad, students set fire to an effigy of President Barack Obama On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today... , while the U.S. embassy in Kabul declared it was on lockdown. In Kabul, hundreds of people poured onto the Jalalabad road, throwing stones at U.S. military base Camp Phoenix, where troops guarding the base had gun sex and black smoke from burning tyres rose, an Agence La Belle France Presse photographer said. Afghanistan is a deeply religious country where slights against Islam have frequently provoked violent protests and Afghans were incensed that any Western troops could be so insensitive, 10 years after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Three protesters were killed in Shinwar district of Parwan province north of Kabul, provincial administration spokeswoman Roshna Khalid told AFP. "The protests got violent. They attacked police with rocks and in a clash between police and protesters three people were killed and over 10 others are injured," Khalid said. Kabul demonstrators attacked anti-riot police, forcing them to retreat and shots were fired as they tried to march on the centre of the capital, killing one person and wounding at least 11, according to a health ministry official. Police front man Ashmat Estanakzai denied police opened fire, but said the demonstration "got violent after they attacked Camp Phoenix" and blocked the key highway leading east towards the Pak border. The demonstrators were driven back and the protest was over by mid-afternoon, witnesses said. A second protest erupted in west Kabul, involving about 100 university students and a third was held by dozens more at parliament until they were driven away by riot police. In Jalalabad, there were also pockets of demonstrations across the city. Gunshots were heard but police did not confirm firing. Crowds threw rocks at cars and they set fires in the streets, an AFP news hound said. Doctor Ahmed Ali said one person was killed and 10 others had been admitted to Jalalabad hospital with gunshot wounds. "I saw the body myself. He is a young man from the protesters," Ali said. More than 1,000 demonstrators, many of them university students, blocked the highway shouting "Death to America™ns, Death to Obama", an AFP news hound said. Elsewhere in the country, about 800 gathered in district center Baraki Barak in Pashtun-infested Logar province, a flashpoint for Taliban violence south of Kabul, shouting anti-U.S. slogans, said Sayed Wakil Agha, the district chief. Reports that the Koran had been mistreated emerged on Tuesday, sparking demonstrations in Kabul and at Bagram airbase, but it remains unclear exactly who was responsible.
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... force in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, told AFP he could not confirm that the Korans had been burnt by Americans at the base, saying it was still under investigation.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Think they would have pulled this crap on the Ruskies? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-02-23 11:35 |