Updated on
Summary
Several hundred Afghans staged a protest in the western city of Herat on Monday against a desecration of the Quran by American troops. Protesters also took to the streets in Kabul for a second day, with police detaining some demonstrators for instigating violence. The protestors allege foreign forces had burned a copy of the Quran during a raid in Maidan Wardak province last week. On Sunday a demonstration in Kabul turned violent as police fired in the air to quell a rally by thousands of people who had thrown stones at the police. NATO-led forces said troops under the command of the alliance and the U.S. military were not behind the incident, terming it as rumour by resurgent Taliban. Afghanistan has seen a series of protests, including violent ones, in recent years, either over reports of alleged religious sacrilege committed by foreign forces, or cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad that have caused outraged in the Muslim world.
