Saturday, February 25, 2012

Now 23 dead in Qur'an Rage protests in Afghanistan

From Jihad Watch:


Now 23 dead in Qur'an Rage protests in Afghanistan
And no one in the West has the guts to call them out on this irrational violence. An update on this story. "Qur'an burning protests rage as death toll reaches 23 in Afghanistan," from Reuters, February 24 (thanks to David):

Twelve people were killed on Friday in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan over the desecration of copies of the Muslim holy book at a Nato military base with riot police and soldiers on high alert braced for more violence.
The burning of the Qur'ans at the Bagram compound earlier this week has deepened public mistrust of Nato forces struggling to stabilise Afghanistan before foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.

Hundreds of Afghans marched towards the palace of Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul, while on the other side of the capital protesters hoisted the white flag of the Taliban.

Chanting "Death to America!" and "Long live Islam!", protesters also threw rocks at police in Kabul, while Afghan army helicopters circled above.

Friday is a holy day and the official weekly holiday in Afghanistan and mosques in the capital drew large crowds, with police in pick-up trucks posted on nearby streets.

Armed protesters took refuge in shops in the eastern part of the city, where they killed one demonstrator, said police at the scene. In another Kabul rally, police said they were unsure who fired the shots that killed a second protester.

Seven more protesters were killed in the western province of Herat, two more in eastern Khost province and one in the relatively peaceful northern Baghlan province, health and local officials said. In Herat, around 500 men charged at the US consulate.

President Barack Obama had sent a letter to Karzai apologising for the unintentional burning of the Qur'ans at Nato's main Bagram air base, north of Kabul, after Afghan labourers found charred copies while collecting rubbish.

Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the literal word of God and treat each copy with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy....

Posted by Robert on February 24, 2012 9:10 AM

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