Afghans protest at U.S. base for burning of Koran
The largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan was bombarded with protesters on Tuesday, prompted by allegations that NATO troops had taken part in burning copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
The U.S. military base is located in Bagram, located in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, 30 miles north of Kabul.
Security forces fired flares and rubber bullets into the crowd of more than 2,000 protesters in an attempt to stop civilians of the highly conservative Islamic country from continuing their demonstrations. According to AFP, the infuriated crowd kept shouting “Death to Americans” and “Death to infidels” to Bagram airbase guards.
John Allen, the U.S commander in Afghanistan, said that the improper disposal of the Koran was unintentional and immediately stopped after being notified of the incident.
“I offer my sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan,” Allen said. “We are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again.”
This has not been the first time violent protests have broke out due to Koran-burning. The Washington Post reports of the incident that took place last April in the northern part of Afghanistan, when an angry mob killed at least seven foreigners and injured dozens after finding out that a man in Florida burned a Koran.
“People’s sentiments have been hurt. They are scattered on various sides of the base and we are trying to establish contact with the commander of the base,” Parwan’s deputy governor, Shaw Wali said.
Afghans working inside the Bagram air base, who were employees of the U.S military, were the first to report the incident. Many of them took the streets with other protesters due to their feelings of betrayal.
Tension between the Afghan and foreign troops have been on the rise due to continuing operation against the Taliban. The AFP reports that U.S. officials were quick to denounce online videos of U.S soldiers urinating of the corpses of three Taliban insurgents last month.
