Unrest Over Quran Burning Leaves 24 Dead as Protests Spread to Pakistan
Afghan policemen form a line during an anti-U.S. demonstration
in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. Thousands of Af-
ghans staged new demonstrations Friday over the burning of
Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. (AP / M. Sadeq)
This latest US offense has fanned the flames of intense anti-American sentiment in the two countries.
Massive protests over the U.S. military’s burning of Muslim holy books have caused two dozen deaths in Afghanistan and has now spread to Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment has hit unprecedented levels.
Afghan protesters tried to storm a U.S. consulate in Herat and march on NATO headquarters in Kabul on Friday in the fourth straight day of demonstrations, which ended up killing 24 people due to violent crowds and harsh attacks from Afghan security forces.
Afghan provincial spokesman Moheedin Noori said up to 50 people had been wounded in Herat, mostly by gunfire. Two U.S. troops have been killed in a shooting earlier in the week and four others wounded. German troops in northern Afghanistan have even withdrawn early from a military base because of the unrest.
Hundreds of Pakistani protesters took to the streets on Friday too, chanting “Death to America,” demanding that U.S. leaders resign and setting fire to a U.S. flag over the burning of Qurans in Afghanistan. Up to 300 people angrily demonstrated in the northwestern city of Peshawar, along with hundreds more in Islamabad and Karachi.
Google/AFP: Afghan Quran protests enter 5th day