UN evacuates staff and NATO sends more troops to Afghanistan

UN evacuates staff and NATO sends more troops to Afghanistan

The United Nations evacuated staff and NATO peacekeepers rushed reinforcements to a remote Afghan town Tuesday after fierce fighting erupted during a protest against publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, officials said.

The violence in Maymana, a city in the northwest, was just one of about half a dozen riots that erupted across Afghanistan. One person was killed and scores wounded in the fighting.

Protesters armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked the NATO base in Maymana, burning an armored vehicle, a U.N. car and guard posts, said a doctor at Maymana Hospital.

He said one protester was shot dead and six others were wounded, while some 50 others were hurt by tear gas the peacekeepers used to disperse the demonstrators, reports the AP.

I.L.