Afghanistan Wrath Spreads over Quran Burning, US Embassy Closed

Local Editor 

At least one person was killed and 21 wounded as protests swept Afghanistan over burning the Holy Quran at Bagram US military base.

As the protests are concentrated in the Afghan capital Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad, protesters set fire to an effigy of US President Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, the American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is on lockdown as protests rage in multiple Afghan cities.

"We wish to remind US citizens that past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets of opportunity," the statement said. "US citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations, spontaneous or planned."

On the outskirts of the capital city of Kabul, security forces fired volleys of gunshots into the air to disperse hundreds who had gathered outside a housing complex for foreigners.
Angry demonstrators set a fuel truck ablaze outside the complex, on a main highway linking the Afghan capital with the eastern city of Jalalabad.

"Death to America," chanted the angry protesters and automatic weapons fire could be heard.

Similarly, hundreds were also gathered outside Camp Phoenix, a US military base, and were hurling rocks at the installation, said Kabul provincial police spokesman Ashmatullah Stanekzai. There were reports that shots were also heard near Camp Phoenix.

Police in eastern Jalalabad city said that thousands were gathering in parts of that city to demonstrate against the incident.
The US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, apologized and ordered an investigation into the incident, admitting that religious materials, including Qurans "were inadvertently taken to an incineration facility."

He also ordered that all troops would be trained in the "proper handling of religious materials no later than March 3."
US War Secretary Leon Panetta also apologized, saying that he and Allen "disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms" and promising to "take all steps necessary and appropriate so that this never happens again."


Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org