Protests over the burning of the Koran: 7 dead in Herat, stones launched at presidential palace in Kabul
Kabul
(AsiaNews) - The official apology of Barack
Obama, U.S.
president, has failed to appease the anger of Afghans in four days of protest against
the burning
of the Koran, February 21 in the NATO base in Bagram. Today, 7 people died in Herat
during a protest outside the American consulate. In Kabul, hundreds of people
gathered in front of the presidential palace hurling stones, bottles and chanting
anti-American slogans. To appease the crowd,
police fired into the air. Local sources point out that the capital
is reinforced and the police are patrolling the streets on board pick-up trucks
for fear of attacks on embassies and other government buildings. Protest marches are being held in Baghlan, Kuduz, Nangarhar, Gardez,
Mazar-e-Sharif.
In
a letter sent yesterday to the Afghan president, Obama expressed his "deep
regret for what happened in Bagram," offering his own apologies to all
Afghan people, he stressed that the gesture was a pure mistake and announced
that necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents will be
taken. Today Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, has called on NATO to try the
soldiers who have burned copies of the Muslim holy book.
To date the toll
is 19 dead in clashes. Among the victims are also two American soldiers. They
were killed by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform while defending the
entrance to the military base Khogyani (eastern province of Nangarhar),
besieged by an angry mob. A total of 14 deaths in the protests.
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