Anti-US Afghan protests continue following deaths

Anti-US demonstrations continued for the third straight day in Afghanistan on Thursday to protest the burning of the Quran at a US-run military base.

More than 600 people marched in the Laghman provincial capital of Mihtarlam east of Kabul, while 300 students took to the streets in the eastern city of Jalalabad, witnesses said.

On Wednesday, at least nine protesters were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests across the country.

The Afghan interior ministry blamed at least one of the deaths on “foreign guards of Camp Phoenix,” a US military base in eastern Kabul attacked by protesters, but most were attributed by local officials to clashes with police.

The burning of the Quran – Islam's holy book – is considered a serious offense in many Muslim countries. Reports that NATO troops in Afghanistan had burnt copies of the Quran enraged locals, who consider it a grave affront to their culture.

The Taliban urged Afghans to not stop at merely protesting, but to attack and kill foreign troops.

“You should bring the invading forces' military bases under your brave attack, their military convoys, kill them, capture them, beat them and teach them a lesson that they will never again dare to insult the Holy Quran,” a Taliban statement said on Thursday.

An alleged Afghan soldier killed two NATO troops on Thursday after opening fire on members of the US-led International Security Assistance Force.

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in eastern Afghanistan today, killing two service members," an ISAF statement said.

Qatar conference

The Taliban's spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, told AFP the Quran burning would not affect contact with US officials in Qatar, where representatives are negotiating over a possible prisoner exchange.

“We condemn the desecration of the Holy Quran in the strongest terms, but this issue will not affect this process in Qatar,” he said.

US officials have apologized for the burning of the Qurans, but claimed the military removed the books from the prison at Bargram because inmates were suspected of using them to pass messages to each other.

A joint investigation team from the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan government visited the prison on Wednesday to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident, ISAF said in a statement.

“This visit is an extremely important first step in resolving this issue, and I am grateful to President [Hamid] Karzai for his support in sending this group of representatives to assist us,” said ISAF commander General John Allen.

US President Barack Obama sent Afghan President Karzai a letter of apology over the incident on Thursday, Karzai's office confirmed.

Obama said the incident was not intentional and pledged a full investigation, a statement from the president's office said.

The United States leads and dominates the 130,000-strong foreign military currently occupying Afghanistan.

(Al-Akhbar, AFP)