Afghans clashed with police over prophet cartoons: 1 killed, 4 wounded

Hundreds of Afghans clashed with police and soldiers Monday during a demonstration against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. One person was killed and four were wounded, officials said.

Photo: Afghans clashed with police over prophet cartoons: 1 killed, 4 wounded

Police fired on the demonstrators after a man in the crowd shot at them and others threw stones and knives during the rally in the central Afghan city of Mihtarlam, said Dad Mohammed Rasa, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Two of the wounded were police, one of whom was stabbed by a thrown knife, while the other two were demonstrators who were shot, Rasa said. The protesters burned tires and threw stones at the offices of the police and provincial governor, he said.

Meanwhile, police using batons and rifle butts broke up a protest by about 200 youths in front of the presidential palace in Kabul, the Afghan capital. An Associated Press reporter saw at least three protesters bleeding from injuries, and at least seven more who were arrested and driven away in a police vehicle, reports the AP.

I.L.