Quran-burning protests spread to Kandahar; 9 dead
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 2, 2011 -- Updated 1219 GMT (2019 HKT)
Afghans react to 'Quran trial' in Florida
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Witnesses say the police shot protesters in Kandahar
* Florida pastor Terry Jones' church website says a copy of the Quran was
burned
* The protest follows a deadly attack on a U.N. compound in Mazar-e Sharif
Check out CNN.com's Afghanistan Crossroads blog for the latest developments,
and the Belief Blog for a timeline of Terry Jones.
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The deadly protests in northern Afghanistan over a
Quran burning spread to the country's war-torn southern region on Saturday,
with provincial government officials reporting at least nine civilians dead and
dozens injured.
The violence struck the city of Kandahar when demonstrators took to the streets
to protest the torching of Islam's most sacred book by a U.S. church.
The unrest followed a demonstration on Friday in the northern town of Mazar-e
Sharif, in which five demonstrators and seven U.N. employees were killed when
an angry throng stormed the U.N. compound there.
"Today the enemies of peace in Afghanistan killed and injured our people in
Kandahar," said a statement from the office of the Kandahar governor.
Besmellah Afghanmal, a Kandahar provincial council member, said hundreds
gathered in Kandahar city to protest the Quran burning.
The demonstration started peacefully, but protesters turned violent, setting
fire to a school and vehicles in Kandahar city, said Zalmai Ayoubi, spokesman
for the governor of Kandahar province.
Along with the nine deaths, 73 others were injured, the provincial government
said.
Ayoubi said Afghan security forces arrested 17 people, including seven who were
armed and are suspected of shooting at protesters.
Pastor Terry Jones sparked international controversy last year when his
Gainesville, Florida, church planned "International Burn a Quran Day" on the
ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon.
Jones' church did not host a Quran burning on that day, but the Dove World
Outreach Center's website announced an "International Judge the Koran Day" set
for last month.
Another post on the site's blog showed an image of a burning book and read,
"The event is over, the Koran was found guilty and a copy was burned inside the
building."
Some witnesses in Kandahar said protesters were shot by police.
"I saw personally three people who (were) shot to death, and one of them was
shot just next to me," protester Shah Meer said.
But police said they neither shot at nor killed anyone.
"There (was) gunfire into the air in order to bring the people under control,
and luckily not one has been killed as a result of the gunfire," said Zemarai
Bashari, spokesman for the interior ministry.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Taliban said the group was not behind any deaths
during the event.
"What happened in Kandahar today was the feeling of the nation, and the Islamic
movement of the Taliban was not involved in any (violence)," Zabiullah Mojahed
said. "It was the Afghan police that killed the innocent people of Kandahar
while they were expressing their feeling against the burning of holy Quran in
Florida."
The Mazar-e Sharif killings generated worldwide condemnation, from the U.N.
Security Council to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a 57-state
group that calls itself the "collective voice of the Muslim world."
Jones said in a statement Friday called the assault "a very tragic and criminal
action."
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a spokesman for the police in Mazar-e-Sharif, told
reporters that a number of suspects "who might be the main organizers" had been
arrested from the Friday attack
The United Nations says the seven U.N. staffers killed were four Nepalese
security guards and three civilians. A U.N. source said the three civilians
were from Norway, Sweden and Romania.
U.N. Peacekeeping Director Alain Le Roy said five demonstrators also were
killed. He said no Afghan U.N. staff members were among the dead, he said.
"I understand there were hundreds, if not thousands, of demonstrators. Some of
them were clearly armed and they stormed into the building," Le Roy said.
He said the security guards tried their best to halt the demonstrators'
advance, but were overwhelmed.
Le Roy said it was not clear that the United Nations was the target. "It
happened to be the U.N. because the U.N. is on the ground."
Another 24 people were wounded, said Abdul Rauof Taj, security director of
Balkh province.
The U.N. Security Council met Friday and issued a statement condemning the
attack, which occurred at the operations center of the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA.
Haji Sakhi Mohammad, a businessman in Mazar-e-Sharif, said that the incident
began after Friday prayers, when many people joined a protest against the
burning of the Quran. People calling "Death to America" marched to the U.N.
compound and broke in, he said. Gunfire broke out, and "I saw protesters shot
to death," he said
A student in Mazar-e-Sharif said he and his friends joined the protesters, who
numbered in the hundreds. "When we reached the UNAMA office, we came under
gunfire by Afghan security guards. Protesters became angry and stormed the
building."
The student said some of the protesters found several loaded AK-47s and used
them to kill security guards and other people inside the building.
Mazar-e Sharif and other northern areas of the country have been relatively
more stable than the south and east but they have experienced their share of
violence lately.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the Quran burning during a
speech before Pakistan's legislature on March 22.
"May I, at the outset, strongly condemn on behalf of the people of Pakistan and
on my own behalf the deliberate desecration of the holy Quran by a fanatic in
Florida," he said, according a transcript of speech. "We condemn this act in
the strongest possible words. ... It is a serious setback to the efforts at
promoting harmony among civilized communities throughout the world."
CNN's Matiullah Mati and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
------------------------------------
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe : [email protected]
Unsubscribe : [email protected]
List owner : [email protected]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
