Anti-US Protests Pop Up in Afghanistan over Accidental Koran Burning
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Several anti-American protests sprung up across Afghanistan Wednesday in response to the inadvertent burning of Korans and other religious materials by coalition forces there.
The books were mistakenly thrown out with the trash at Bagram Air Field north of Kabul and were on a burn pile Monday night before Afghan laborers intervened around 11:00 p.m., according to NATO and Afghan officials.
Upon hearing the news, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside of Bagram and on the outskirts of Kabul Tuesday morning. The protests continued the following day, growing in intensity and size.
In Jalalabad, demonstrations began in two different locations on Wednesday. After the situation became a little heated, police opened fire and, according to health officials, one person was killed and eight others were injured.
Over in Kabul, people gathered in front of U.S. base Camp Phoenix started burning tires and tried to burn public assets before the Afghan National Police arrived and got the situation under control. One person died and 10 got hurt, according to officials from the Ministry of Public Health.
Protests were also reported in the provinces of Laghman and Parwan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul tweeted on Wednesday, “The Embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there.”
Camp Phoenix and all other U.S. installations in Kabul were also placed on lockdown.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has formed a commission to investigate the matter and has asked parliament for a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the incident.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio