Seven killed in Quran burning protests in Afghanistan



KABUL // At least seven people died yesterday in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Qurans at a Nato military base. The deaths occurred in the capital, Kabul, the eastern city of Jalalabad and in the provinces of Logar and Parwan, the interior ministry said.

The anger over the Quran burnings underscores anti-foreign sentiment in Afghanistan, fuelled by popular belief that foreign troops and aid workers disrespect Afghan culture and Islam.

The US Embassy went into lockdown and staff were confined to their compounds as the violence erupted. In Kabul, thousands of protesters chanting "Death to America" hurled rocks and set fire to trees outside a complex which is home to foreign contractors, police and some coalition military forces.

Nearby, angry demonstrators set a petrol tanker ablaze on a main road outside of the city.

The US has apologised for burning the Qurans, which had been pulled from the shelves of the Parwan Detention Facility, next to the Bagram Air Field, the main US airbase in the country, because, it was claimed, they contained extremist messages or inscriptions.

The commander of US and Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, said the Qurans had been mistakenly given to troops to be burnt at a rubbish dump.

"It was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials," Gen Allen said. "It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it we immediately stopped and we intervened."

A western official said it appeared the Qurans and other Islamic readings in the library were being used to fuel extremism, and that detainees were writing on the documents to exchange extremist messages.

As yesterday's rally in Kabul turned violent, city police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi arrived with hundreds of reinforcements who broke up the protest.

"They have the right to demonstrate, but they have to do it in accordance with the law," said Mr Salangi's deputy, Daud Amin.

"It is their right to demonstrate. ... We are also Muslim and we say it was a wrong action from the Islamic point of view."

Several kilometres away, hundreds of protesters were throwing rocks at Camp Phoenix, a US military base, said Kabul provincial police spokesman Ashmatullah Stanekzai.

Shots were also fired in the air at Camp Phoenix.

After the Quran burning was made public on Tuesday, more than 2,000 Afghans protested outside the Bagram base near the capital.

The burning happened late on Monday, when Afghan workers at the base saw soldiers throwing the books in a pit where rubbish is burnt and noticed the Qurans and other religious books.

Health ministry spokesman Ghulam Sakhi Kargar said one person was killed yesterday in protests in Kabul.

Security forces killed one protester during a demonstration in the Shinwar district, according to Adbul Khalil Farangi, the director of the main hospital in the provincial capital Charikar. He said a further 15 people were wounded.

Shinwar district police chief Mohammad Sediq said they were investigating unconfirmed reports that another six may have been killed during a protest by about 1,200 people.

District chief Sayfaullah, who goes by only one name, said village elders had reported the six deaths, but authorities had not been able to confirm them.

Both said some protesters fired on police as they tried to storm the district compound, prompting security forces to respond with gunfire.

A protest in Logar province, near the capital, also turned violent after someone in a group of about 300 demonstrators fired on police.

Police returned fire, killing one protester, said provincial police chief General Ghulam Sakhi Roogh Lawanay.

Two protesters and two police officers were also wounded, he added.

He said the protesters had come from the neighbouring Wardak province, an insurgent hotbed.

Foreign troops are due to pull out of the country in 2014. But already there is a marked decrease in foreign military and aid operations in the country.

After a decade of war, there is widespread resentment in Afghanistan at the failure of foreign troops to bring security and the waste of foreign aid.

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What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship

When: December 27-29, 2018

Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams

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The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast. 

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5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons

700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams

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Date of birth September 19, 1990

Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom

Age 26

Height 1.74 metres

Nationality England

Position Right-back

Foot Right

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PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st

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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
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Investments: Grants/private funding
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British group

Coldplay

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Freya Ridings

FKA Twigs

Charli xcx

Mahalia​

British male

Harry Styles

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Michael Kiwanuka

Stormzy​

Best new artist

Aitch

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Mabel

Sam Fender

Best song

Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care

Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up

Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant

Dave - Location

Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved

Tom Walker - Just You and I

Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger

Stormzy - Vossi Bop

International female

Ariana Grande

Billie Eilish

Camila Cabello

Lana Del Rey

Lizzo

International male

Bruce Springsteen

Burna Boy

Tyler, The Creator

Dermot Kennedy

Post Malone

Best album

Stormzy - Heavy is the Head

Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

Dave - Psychodrama

Harry Styles - Fine Line

Rising star

Celeste

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