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Qur'an protests force US embassy into lockdown Qur'an protesters attack Kabul compound housing foreigners
(about 3 hours later)
The US has locked down its embassy in Kabul amid violent protests across the capital over the burning of Qur'ans at Nato's main base in Afghanistan. Afghan protestors armed with stones and molotov cocktails have attacked a military base and a compound housing foreign workers in Kabul, in a second day of violence over the burning of copies of the Qur'an by foreign forces.
"The embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there," the embassy posted on its official Twitter feed after protests at which demonstrators screamed "Death to America!". At least 16 demonstrators and one police officer were injured as enraged crowds took to the streets in central and eastern Afghanistan, shouting "Death to America" and "Death to Obama".
Several people were wounded on Wednesday, according to witnesses, when shots were fired as hundreds of angry Afghans gathered for a second day of violent clashes after copies of the Qur'an were burned at the Bagram airbase. Police in Kabul used water cannon and fired into the air to control the demonstrators, who were attacking shops and smashing car windows. Security guards in the compound that came under attack also opened fire with automatic rifles.
Witnesses said the shots were fired into crowds of demonstrators when they charged at police lines and smashed car windows. It appeared that police had opened fire but there was no immediate confirmation from Afghan security forces. A military base was attacked on the outskirts of the capital.
Protesters shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to [President Hamid] Karzai" in a large demonstration on the outskirts of Kabul. A second rally had begun in another area of the Afghan capital, witnesses told Reuters. Eleven men were treated for gunshot wounds in Kabul, said Kabir Amiri, spokesman for the city's hospitals. Another five people were injured in eastern Jalalabad, said Ahmad Zia Ahmadzai, spokesman for the provincial governor.
"When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said 18-year-old Ajmal in the city, where dozens of protesters charged through police barriers. The demonstrations began in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after Afghan workers at the sprawling Bagram airbase spotted copies of the Qur'an among waste paper sent for incineration.
Similar incidents in the past have caused deep divisions and resentment among Afghans towards foreign troops in the country. Critics say western troops often fail to grasp Afghanistan's religious and cultural sensitivities. They extinguished the flames and left the base with some of the damaged books, which had been taken from prisoners in a detention centre at Bagram.
Separate protests were also under way in Jalalabad in the east, where protesters praised the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, screaming "Long live Mullah Omar!", witnesses told Reuters A military official, who asked not to be named, said the books had been removed from the jail library because some had added inscriptions that appeared to be in use to "facilitate extremist communications" or were extremist "in and of themselves".
Afghan media said demonstrations had also taken place in the western city of Herat, usually one of the more stable areas in a country. Nato-led forces rushed to apologise for the burning, which the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, described as "not intentional".
In Kabul, protesters smashed car windows while police fired water cannon in a bid to disperse a crowd that had blocked a major road. But damage to the Qur'an is a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan and protests began almost immediately.
The US commander of Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, as well as Washington, apologised on Tuesday after Afghan labourers found charred copies of the Qur'an while collecting rubbish at the Bagram airbase about an hour's drive north of Kabul. "When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul told Reuters news agency.
There were demonstrations by as many as 2,000 people as word spread. The city's police chief, Ayoub Salangi, came to the most violent protest in the city to appeal for calm. "I am with you, please cool your temper, I am with you," he told the crowd, but they turned on him and started throwing stones at his car.
The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, issued an apology for "inappropriate treatment" of copies of the Muslim holy book- a public relations disaster for Washington as it tries to pacify the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. Salangi later told the Guardian that one officer had been injured by protestors who threw stones.
Seven foreign UN workers were killed during protests across Afghanistan fin April 2011 after a US pastor burned a copy of the Qur'an in Florida. There was a second protest near Kabul university, and three demonstrations – not all violent – in eastern Jalalabad city. Hundreds of Afghans also marched in the streets of central Parwan and Logar provinces, Reuters said.
The US embassy ordered all staff to stay inside their compound, and the UN and many other embassies and foreign aid groups halted movements across Kabul.
"The embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there," the embassy's official Twitter feed said.
The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, also issued an apology for "inappropriate treatment" of copies of the Qur'an at the Bagram airbase to try to contain fury over the incident.
Seven foreign UN workers and at least 13 Afghans were killed during protests that raged across Afghanistan for three days in April 2011 after a US pastor burned a Qur'an in Florida.