Protests against burning of the Quran have more deaths in Afghanistan

Over 20 people have died in Afghanistan, Protests against the desecration of the holy book on the military base spread throughout the world...

At least two people were killed yesterday and dozens injured in the fifth consecutive day of protests in Afghanistan provoked by the burning of copies of the Quran (Islamic holy book) on a U.S. military base, sources said.

The most serious events occurred in the city of Kunduz, where about 200 demonstrators took to the streets and tried to storm a UN building and the headquarters of the Afghan police, who had to shoot to keep order. "Two protesters were killed and six are wounded," said the deputy provincial police, Ghulam Mohammad Farhad, who added that three officers were wounded. A witness already affirmed the three were killed in clashes.

There were also clashes in the province of Laghman, where about 1,000 took to the streets and clashed with security forces in the capital, Mihtarlam. "We have 16 wounded. Two of them are in critical condition," reported the spokesman for the regional government, Zargul Persarlai.

According to Afghan news agency "AIP," there were also demonstrations in the areas of Sar-e Pol, Paktia, Logar, Paktika and Nangarhar, some of them with episodes of violence.

According to reports, the protests against the burning of the Quran already caused more than 20 deaths in different parts of the country. Among the victims, there are two soldiers of the international troops that died on Wednesday by shots fired from an Afghan soldier during a demonstration in the east of the country.

The unrest began on Tuesday, when Afghan officials on the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, Bagram, complained publicly that several copies of the Quran were burned within the complex. The mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has classified the incident as a mistake, apologized and opened a joint investigation with the Afghan government on the case.

Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Lisa Karpova

Pravda.Ru