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Subscribe to RSSThousands of Afghans protested against the unintentional burning of Qurans and other Islamic religious materials during trash disposal at an American air base. NBC's Atia Abawi reports.
Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET: KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thousands of angry Afghans protested outside a U.S. military base on Tuesday, some hurling rocks and firing guns in the air, after reports surfaced that American troops had burned copies of the Quran and other religious items.
The demonstrators — shouting "Die, die, foreigners!" — gathered outside Bagram airbase, an hour's drive north of the capital Kabul. Photographs taken by the AFP news agency outside the airbase, showed people firing slingshots and others holding charred copies of the Quran, Islam's holy book.
"The people are very angry. The mood is very negative," said Zia Ul Rahman, deputy provincial police chief. "Some are firing hunting guns in the air, but there have been no casualties."
"We Afghans don't want these Christians and infidels, they are the enemy of our soil, our honor and our Quran," said Haji Shirin, one of the protesters.
Qais Usyan / AFP - Getty Images
More than a decade after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
"I urge all Muslims to sacrifice themselves in order to pull out these troops from this soil."
U.S. helicopters fired flares to disperse the crowd.
Seeking to quickly tamp down the outrage, the White House apologized for the burning of Muslim holy books in a pile of garbage at Bagram.
PhotoBlog: Afghans besiege US base in protest over Quran burning
Press secretary Jay Carney said the "deeply unfortunate incident" doesn't reflect the respect the U.S. military has for the religious practices of the Afghan people.
Carney echoed military officials Tuesday in saying that the Quran burning happened unintentionally, and that an investigation was being undertaken to ensure it didn't happen again.
The top NATO general in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, also apologized. He said religious materials, including Qurans, that were identified for disposal were inadvertently taken to an incineration field at the airfield.
"Along with our apology to the Afghans is our certainty and assurance to them, that these kinds of incidents, when they do occur, will be corrected in the fastest and most appropriate manner possible," Allen said in a statement. "We've been shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans for a long time. We've been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them; we believe in their country, and we want to have every opportunity to give them a bright future."
Allen said he has also directed all coalition forces in Afghanistan to complete training in the proper handling of all religious materials by March 3.
A military official with knowledge of the incident told The Associated Press the Muslim holy books had been removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions. He said it appeared the Qurans and other Islamic readings were being used to fuel extremism, and detainees apparently were leaving notes for one another inside them.
Thousands of Afghans rallied outside a U.S. military base over a report that foreign troops had improperly disposed of copies of the Quran, including some being burned. NBC's Natalie Morales reports.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident.
'Very angry'
Roshna Khalid, the provincial governor's spokeswoman, said Qurans were burned inside Bagram, citing accounts from local laborers.
"The laborers normally take the garbage outside and they found the remains of Qurans," she said.
Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials gave him about 30 Qurans and other religious books that were recovered before they were destroyed.
"Some are burned. Some are not burned," Zahed said, adding that the books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base.
Latest killer of Afghan children: Hunger
The materials were in trash that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported in a truck late Monday night to a pit where garbage is burned on the base, according to Zahed, who spoke with five Afghans working at the pit.
He said that when the workers noticed the religious books in the trash, they stopped the disposal process.
Bagram also houses a prison for Afghans detained by American forces. The center has caused resentment among Afghans because of reports of torture and ill-treatment of suspected Taliban prisoners, with President Hamid Karzai demanding the transfer of prisoners to Afghan security.
Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images
Afghan protesters throw stones toward U.S. soldiers standing at the gate of Bagram airbase during a protest Tuesday.
NYT: Afghan girls pay price for elders' misdeeds
Protests raged for three days across Afghanistan in April after a U.S. pastor burned a Quran in Florida. Eleven people were killed when demonstrators stormed a U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, including seven foreign U.N. workers. Another riot in the southern city of Kandahar left nine dead and more than 80 wounded.
Meanwhile, NATO said three coalition service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan. It did not give any other details about Tuesday's deaths.
Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images
A demonstrator holds a copy of the Quran allegedly set alight at Bagram airbase.
So far this year, 47 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
Earlier, NATO reported that a fourth service member died Tuesday as a result of a non-battle related injury, also in the south.
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The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
GET A CLUE.
Afghanis CANNOT protest our invading their country. If they did they would be labeled Taliban or Taliban supporter and swiftly be killed outright or disappeared into a prison.
An issue over the Quran gives the protestors coverage to speak their mind over our occupation without being labeled Taliban.
hey whats the big deal? these bastards (afghans) do the same to the bible !they even kill christians too.they even blow up historical buddhas that are religious.i say we get outta there and let them sink in their own @!$%#e...
This story is a bunch of crap, everyone knows Islam is the religion of peace...... unless your a unbeliever, so please for your heads sake fall on your knees now and offer your prayers to that child molester now...
Islam is evil and should be destroyed. They can blow others up, cut of heads, control and kill Christians but God forbid we burn a coran or make muhammad out of camel dung, they want to destroy the world. I'm a Christian and i say nuke them all and we won't have to bother with this any longer.
steven,
"im a christian and i say nuke (kill) them all" ..... nice Christian values steve....hypocrite!
Steven, you are what Christianity in this country is all about. When's your new movie, Deliverance II coming out?
Steven-4183244 is Rick Santorum's alias.
Easy Steven, you are in the presence of liberal, judgemental, Islamist sympathisers. But they do have a point. The Bible does not teach the "Nuke-Em All" doctrine. By saying so you feed into their swill.
Actually the Bible does. Read the first half. The secon half contains a guy who was just as sweet and sensitive as the liberal apoligists on here. Guess what, that guy got taken out fast. Just like the liberals on here would if they stepped foot into a Muslim Country.
thatguy, without the second half of the bible we have no Christians, and no the Christian bible teaches to love one another, if struck on the left side of your cheek turn and give the right. Jesus was Liberal and Conservative and was open to all to follow.
If muslims read the Bible we win in the end any way so bite me islam and muhammad was gay also, advocating sex with boys. Muhammad is the son of satan and we see it in the coran.
Steven, are you Catholic? A former alter boy with a reamed out a$$?
Marlene what were the ages of Muhammad's wife's? Why were non Muslims taxed more then Muslims? Why are Muslims told to lie? Why do these Muslim terrorist party with hookers and get drunk before their missions? Why do they get so bent out of shape and riot when someone other then Muslims defile their Mosques? Why do they murder their own and call it a Honor Killing? Is It possible to actually rape a Muslim women?
I believe Aisha was less than 10 yrs old. Actally not much different than anybody else in the world back then. Our own settlers were older men marrying little girls at the onset of puberty. And get over it with the hookers...it's the world's oldest profession. And lastly, if it weren't for people like me, there would still be slavery right here and black men would still be lynched on the spot just for looking at a white women. . Actually the KKK is still alive and well.
Marlane I noticed you failed to answer all but the age of Muhammad's wife less then 10 and you would be ok with that? So you're the savior of the US and all black Americans? So you must be a Republican just like Lincoln. You are aware that one of the leaders of the KKK supported the OWS movement . BTW what's the worlds oldest profession have to do with your religious Muslim terrorist and their need to fornicate before their murderous deeds?
can we please get the heck out of that country and let these people kill each other off without our being involved.
I don't know what's better for winning hearts and minds over there -- urinating on Taliban corpses or burning copies of the Quran. I wonder what other creative approaches the US military might have up its sleeve.
Optimist, maybe throwing acid in a woman's face, or raping a women, maybe a couple of be-headings. I know a couple well placed IED's. Easy to talk smack with your cat on your lap.
Just like the bible they are books and nothing more. Get over it people.
O FRIGIN RELAX! Here u can burn some bibles if u want, jes....
the idea here is piss them all off , let them protest in one big group and then fly a drone over them and kill all them including their goats, here i will say it phuck the koran that teaches them to want to kill christians, bring back the crusades!!!
F uck them. Bibles are burned on a regular basis in the Middle East. Sometimes even while accompanied by the Church where they found it and the Christian who was carrying it. Frankly, we need to get the Hell out of there and leave them to their immorality and corruption because we can NOT convince them we are their friends. We are either going to piss them off while exercising our own freedoms or, best case scenario, be looked at like idiots who are a convenient resource to milk dry for whatever they can take. Distasteful tolerance is not worth our bending over backwards and putting our soldiers in harm's way.
I burned a Quran and a Bible after reading this, no joke. Just because the universe demanded at least a LITTLE justice (the Bible was just my own trying to be fair). Both books burned; only one religion would want retaliate if they could. F uck 'em.
azrogue,
You are a sick man. Our military should not be there in the first place. Our military is the occupier of foreign land and our soldiers have done many bad things to them. You are indeed very ignorant, Full of rage but no brain.
Stand up, you seem to have left out the good things our troops have done, why is that?
How many bibles have the Muslims burned and desecrated? Answer: How many can they get their hands on.
Where did these horrible books of hate come from in the first place that they were on the base to begin with. Is Obama making reading the Koran mandatory reading? Why else would there be books of hate on the base?
We should have been out of that backwater country 4 YEARS ago and we would not be having this problem. We gave them our sons and daughters lives, billions of our hard earned tax dollars and they are bitching because someone burned a book that like the bible, was written by old men to control the masses.
Religion the most hateful organisation on the face of this earth. Lets get the frick out of that ungrateful county and leave them to their own devices. They will start killing each other the day we leave and I hope they all kill each other.
Just like Obama and his follows, on their knees apologizing to the rest of world while we the American tax payer supports their sorry butts!
Don't ever forget that Mr. Bush put us in there and Iraq in the first place. You like to blame Obama for the Koran now. What next, your hair loss?
DG, I believe it was 9/11 that put us there,. but gee golly that was way back in 2001 who can remember that far back.
wlee, oh, you mean Bush and Cheney put us there, after they (B&C) demolition crewed the World Trade Center.
Marlane, you need to try on a larger tin foil hat, that one seems to be a bit tight. Was this after their failed attempt the first time , or were they just picking up where Clinton left off?
how will the muzzies feel when they see me drop a steamer on the koran?
General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), earlier offered his "sincere apologies" for the actions in an apparent bid to prevent anti-Western anger from spreading across Afghanistan.
Yes, I have heard enough apologies. It was not just burning of Korans, our soldiers also mistreated, tortured, verbally, physically and sexually abused the Muslims. It is our military culture that trains our soldiers to hate their enemies so that they do not have any compassion to the locals. The by-product is that our soldiers lost their abilities to feel anymore and that's when PSTD begins.
I served my time without pstd thankfully. Maybe I'm just more comfortable with it, my hate keeps me warm.....
It's PTSD. And your perspective on this is very one sided. You haven't heard what the Taliban does?
DG-646000
"It's PTSD. And your perspective on this is very one sided. You haven't heard what the Taliban does?"
Our military should not be there. The Russians had been there and left. Our military got in because of hate and vengence. This is not about Justice. I met with many soldiers with PSTD and my friend, a psychatrist, had treated them with little success. Many countries did not join the coalition of the willing and fought in Afghanisation and their soldiers do not hate the Muslims because they were not told to hate them. There is so much hatred among our soldiers, and our leaders should be accountable for.
Oh shut up "Stand Up for America." You've never been in combat and would piss your panties if you were. There is no such thing as a civilized war. When you have people trying to kill you, the media should not have a camera in your face recording your actions. Ill buy you a ticket to Afganistan and watch you try to make friends with them.
It's not as hard to make friends as some people think. But first you have to shed the KKK mentality.
@Marlane:Since when did YOU assume the role of emporer of all that is RIGHT and PERFECT FOR ALL TO FOLLOW! How can you pre-judge EVERYONE without even KNOWING them? (Deliverance II reference, KKK reference, ect.) You MUST know WAY MORE than ANYONE how to live and BELIEVE! Really, are you the Messiah's MESSENGER? (or just a lost liberal lackey extremist?) Please tell me! I MISSED THE SIGNS!
Before the printing press, to produce a Bible, Koran, or any book was very labor intensive. They had to be copied by hand by scribes, monks, or other literate people. Hand copied books were/are works of art and deserve special treatment and protection.
However, books today are mass produced by the millions. The Korans in question were not rare or 'special'. This is a case of Afghan Muslims just looking for an excuse to be outraged.
I've seen these people burn too many US flags to think America should apologize for anything. Why don't they apologize for the atrocities their people commit?
Mic from Cleveland
Obviously, you have not done any travelling. America has no respect for anybody or any nation and our military occupies foreign land. Our military has killed, tortured, kidnapped, physically, verbally and sexually abused the locals. This explains why America is the most hated nation on earth.
Hey Stand up for America.
You are right and to Highlight your protest and cause us to realize what we have gone you should punish us beyond belief.
Imigrate to a Muslim Country and leave us to suffer alone. There are Busses and planes and ships leaving every day. Be on one of them and make us suffer
sammy72746
Hey Stand up for America.
"You are right and to Highlight your protest and cause us to realize what we have gone you should punish us beyond belief.
Imigrate to a Muslim Country and leave us to suffer alone. There are Busses and planes and ships leaving every day. Be on one of them and make us suffer."
Did your mother teach you to say that just because someone disagrees with you? How many people have you asked to leave so that you stup!d f00l can stay in this country?
Your mother must be very Stup!d and pathetic to have a SON like you called Sammy.
Standup, I've traveled all over the world and have yet met these people who hate Americans. In fact the people I've met have given me their e-mail addresses ,invited me back asked a lot of questions and expressed their desire to someday visit the US or to return there someday. Maybe you should leave your bedroom and actually do a bit of traveling outside your Liberal views.
It's clear that religion(s) make people crazy. It's a book.
I, personally have issues defending people who consistently place the value of a book higher than that of human lives. It may be their holy book, but it's still just paper and ink. I say just step out and burn it all...
Mo nig(wtf?) the Right in this country puts $money$ above all else, all in the name of Christianity, of course.
Marlene, except that the teachings of Christianity say it's harder for a rich man to get into heaven then it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, maybe you should pull your head out of the Koran and try reading the Bible
Oh who cares. These same people protesting destroyed the religious symbols of every other religion in the region including ancient buddha statues, which were historical. Muslims really need a reality check.
We are in a war, whether we accept it or not: people, buildings, possessions get destroyed. We owe no one any apologies for their "book" being destroyed. Did we apologize for Nagasaki? How about Dresden? Where is the apology for 9/11? Muslims have an avowed mindset to destroy us completely, no matter what the cost, or time it will take. You cannot negotiate with fanatics, or make "nice." Any apology offered would be scorned - it shows weakness in the presenter. If you haven't faced an armed enemy or lost friends in action, you cannot understand the position of us that have. The hell with weakness!
mrf6869: You,sir are RIGHT ON POINT! THANK YOU!
The Quran is Paper. We use it every day. We use it in rolls and usually provide it in all Public Toilets across the USA. Muslims use their left hand for wiping their Butt and their Right hand for eating
sammy72746
"The Quran is Paper. We use it every day. We use it in rolls and usually provide it in all Public Toilets across the USA. Muslims use their left hand for wiping their Butt and their Right hand for eating"
This must be really hard for you to understand. In many cultures, some books are very important to them and they are willing to die for the books. Quran is very sacred for the Muslims.
Imigrate now. Try Mexico and offset the flow into this terrible country
sammy72746
You are displaying more ignorance than I first thought and anger for which you seem to have a lot and intelligence which you seem to have none.
Stand Up for America: "In many cultures, some books are very important to them and they are willing to die for the books. Quran is very sacred for the Muslims."
Koran says:
"Slay them wherever you find them. Fight against them till idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme" (Sura 2:190),
"Seek out your enemies relentlessly" (Sura 4:103),
"Make war on them till idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme" (Sura 8:36),
"When the sacred months are over slay the unbelievers wherever you find them. Arrest them, beseige them and lie in ambush everywhere for them" (Sura 9:5),
"Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you" (Sura 9:121),
"When you meet the unbelievers on the battlefield strike off their heads" (Sura 47:3),
"Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal sternly with them. Hell shall be their home, evil their fate" (Sura 66:7).
So, as you see, they are not going to die, they are going to kill without any reason just for being Christian or Jew.
Like white people in the USA would just as soon kill an African American just for being not white.
marlane try doing a little research whites tend to kill other whites just as blacks tend to kill other blacks. If you want to talk about people killing other people just look at the Arab spring lets see Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Iran, Yemen, heck we'll even throw in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan without our help. So who's the Infidels the Sunni or the Shiite?
I would love to see statistics as to how many of the "protesters" can actually read.
One of the justifiable faults of Islam is that the majority of its followers cannot read so that they take at face value the biased interpretations of the Fundamentalist leaders.
The difference between Muslims and Christians is that Christians carry the word of God in their heart- not in their hands. Gods word is more than just a book.
kelldon
The difference between Muslims and Christians is that Christians carry the word of God in their heart- not in their hands. Gods word is more than just a book.
Kelldon,
The Muslims are more holy than the Christians. There is no drinking, sex parties, stealing, gambling in Saudi Arabia. Their punishments, which many western countries do not agree are: cutting their hands or heads.
In Christianity, there is no punishment for breaking the ten commandments like "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife", and "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour". That's why there are many whores in America than anywhere else in the world. A whore in Saudi Arabia would be stoned, uncivilised yes, but unholy, it is a No. BTW, there are many family breakups (50%) of all marriages and many dysfunctional families, also in America. In God we trust, is just a memory.
I disagree. In fact, I've gotten a few whores stoned here in the US, myself.
The difference between Christians and Muslims is negligible. They both think they should impose their false beliefs on everybody else.
No book should be burned. Not even ones I don't like.
Now bring the troops home, before anything else stupid happens.
Stand- you are under the same misconception as many- that is what a true Christian is versus what most of the populace calls them selves. True Christiana don't do any ofthe things mentioned. People who call them selves Christians but do not follow any or its doctrines or even the teachings of Christ do all those things that you have mentioned. so are they actually Christian- I would think not. There are many muslims that also do not follow the doctrines of their religion. I think that the percentage of true Christians by the very meaning and implications of the word are very few in the US and through out the world.
Standup, vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. Jesus forgives those who sway from his teachings and repent. May I suggest you read Jesus's teachings and compare to Muhammad's and leave the followers out of the equation. Man corrupts.
Do these people stage protests about the atrocities of killing and torturing done by the Taliban but protest the accidental burning of the Koran? Haven't heard about it. One more example of the US becoming the bad guys and the enemy of the people, Taliban , the good guys. All the more reason to get the h--ll out of there.
Let's get the hell out of all these Muslim countries. Let Russia & China deal with them. And let these "protesters" deal with the Taliban when they retake power and there won't be any more protests or anything because the country will be one big prison, an Islamic version of North Korea. As far as Israel goes, they create their own problems, let them deal with it. If anybody tries to take them out, they'll blow up the entire Middle East.
WHAT?!?!? My "Co-Exist" bumper sticker isn't working?? I thought a bleeding heart slogan on the back of my car would change thousands of years of history of violence between different religions.
SHHHHH! Sammy Johns! You're Going to upset Marlane!