Coran brûlé : 6 morts en Afghanistan – 26 février 2012

Protester killed, U.S. service members hurt in unrest over burned Qurans

cnn.com

From Nick Paton Walsh and Masoud Popalzai, CNN

February 27, 2012

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — A demonstrator died and several U.S. service members and Afghan police were injured as protests over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base turned violent Sunday, said officials.

The bloodshed in northern Kunduz province came a day after a gunman killed two U.S. military officers inside their office in the highly secured Afghanistan Ministry of Interior — one of several incidents targeting allied forces after reports emerged last week that NATO troops had burned Muslim holy books at Bagram Airfield.

U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama, have apologized for the burning and called it inadvertent. A military official — speaking on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of the issue — said the materials were from a detainee center’s library and had « inscriptions » that appeared to be used to « facilitate extremist communications. »

Such statements, or explanations, haven’t stopped protests from Muslims in Afghanistan, who believe the Quran is the word of God and so holy that people should wash their hands before even touching it.

On Sunday, the sixth day of protests, initially peaceful demonstrators in Kunduz attacked a police chief’s office and a U.S. military base, Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said. Read more…