Afghan Quran Protest Turns Deadly

Three Killed During Rally Against U.S. Sniper Who Used Holy Book For Target Practice

(AP)  Gunfire broke out Thursday at a protest in western Afghanistan against a U.S. sniper in Iraq who used a Quran for target practice. Officials said a NATO soldier and two civilians were killed.

Police opened fire on demonstrators who threw rocks and set tents on fire near a military airfield in western Ghor province, said NATO spokesman Maj. Martin O'Donnell.

Two civilians were slain and seven others were wounded, he said.

Gunfire also killed one NATO soldier from Lithuania and wounded another, but it was not clear who shot at them, O'Donnell said. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry identified the dead soldier as Sgt. Arunas Jarmalavicius, 35, the first Lithuanian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

"We don't know if it was one of the protesters, an insurgent among the protesters or an insurgent sniper outside the protest. We have no indication that it was the Afghan National Police," O'Donnell told The Associated Press.

Ghor provincial police chief Shah Jahan Noori said about 1,000 demonstrators had gathered to protest the Quran shooting.

"Among these people were rebels who opened fire," Noori said, adding that 10 policemen were also wounded.

Provincial council member Ahmad Khan Rahimi was among the protesters and estimated the crowd at 2,000 people.

He said they chanted "Death to America!" and "America is against Islam!"

"We condemn the act of the soldier in Iraq against our holy book," Rahimi quoted the demonstrators as saying.

The U.S. military said Sunday it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used the Quran for target practice May 9.

President Bush apologized to Iraq's prime minister for the incident after several U.S. military officials tried to soothe anger over the shooting of Islam's holy book.

There has been relatively little protest in Muslim countries since the incident, but similar perceived insults against Islam have sparked violent protests around the world.

At least 11 Afghans were killed in 2006 during protests over the contentious Prophet Muhammad cartoons published in Denmark.

Afghanistan is a Muslim nation where blasphemy of Muhammad and the Quran is considered a serious crime that carries the death sentence.

In other violence:

• In the southern city of Kandahar, a remote control bomb on a bicycle exploded as an Afghan army convoy was passing on Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding another, said police officer Wali Mohammad.
  
• In eastern Paktika province, a suicide car bomber hit a NATO convoy Wednesday, killing one Afghan civilian and wounding four troops, said NATO spokesman O'Donnell.
  
• Also in Paktika, two separate roadside bomb attacks targeting NATO convoys on Wednesday and Thursday left six troops wounded, O'Donnell said.
  
• In eastern Kunar province, insurgents fired heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at two separate NATO bases on Wednesday, killing a child and wounding three others, the military alliance said in a statement.
  
• In western Nimroz province, a roadside bomb hit a road construction company Thursday morning, wounding an Indian engineer, said Nimroz Gov. Ghulam Dastagir Azad.

[algoresarse]

well a lot of christians and catholics would appreciate it if you would use that sermon on those athiest liberals

Posted by algoresarse

Whether people choose to believe in religion doesn''''t matter to me. It is not my intention to judge other people''''s religious beliefs. It is disrespectful to knock other people''''s religious beliefs whether one chooses to believe in religion or one chooses not to believe in religion.

Posted by rhs648 at 08:20 PM : May 23, 2008
+ report abuse

***********

here is a thing take a year and observe the athiests on thier cbs board...you tell me if they practice "the beleif that there is no god" of they practice "attacking anything with religion specially christians and catholics"..

i think those athiest lost the true essence of thier own ideology and perverted it into another hate cult

[telecom_1]

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Islam should strongly condemn the suicidal mass murder of 73 school children in Afghanistan last year but I don''''t hear one word against it, instead Islam riots and kills about some nobody loser who shot up a paper book, this is upside down and dose not make good sense, this makes Islam look like it has no sense of justice or good judgment at all.

[deacon20081]

I throw away all literature dumped on my door step by the Mormons all of the time. They are just a goofy as a Quran. That is like L Ron Hubbard followers rioting because we hate scientology. Sorry to say it but Islam is bogus idolitry.

[minnick8-2009]

Yes i would love to see obama rush right over there and embrace his radical brothers.
Posted by patriot12436

If the Libs actually accomplish electing him President, you won''t have to wait long. I''m sure he will be right over there.

I respect people''s right to religion or non religion. Personally, I have my own sacred books. But the Islanics are nutso over the Quoran. There must be like millions of copies. So what difference does it make if one copy has a few holes in it? I think they will riot over anything. That of course, would be the men, since the women are home cooking and cleaning and caring for the children who are too young to go recite from the Quoran in what they call schools.

[patriot12436]

mimmick8
Yes i would love to see obama rush right over there and embrace his radical brothers.

Islam should strongly condemn the suicidal mass murder of 73 school children in Afghanistan last year but I don''''t hear one word against it, instead Islam riots about some nobody loser who shot up a paper book, this is upside down and dose not make good sense, this makes Islam look like radical idiots with no sense of justice at all. Posted by telecom_1 =====

Fancy that. But I renounce the use of the terms "this makes Islam." Nothing makes Islam do anything. Islam does it all to itself. They look like radical idiots because they are radical idiots. They look like they have no sense of justice because they have no sense of justice. What you see is what you get, right, Geraldine?

Islam should strongly condemn the suicidal mass murder of 73 school children in Afghanistan last year but I don''''t hear one word against it, instead Islam riots about some nobody loser who shot up a paper book, this is upside down and dose not make good sense, this makes Islam look like radical idiots with no sense of justice at all. Posted by telecom_1 =====

Fancy that. But I renounce the use of the terms "this makes Islam." Nothing makes Islam do anything. Islam does it all to itself. They look like radical idiots because they are radical idiots. They look like they have no sense of justice because they have no sense of justice. What you see is what you get, right, Geraldine?

[telecom_1]

Islam should strongly condemn the suicidal mass murder of 73 school children in Afghanistan last year but I don''t hear one word against it, instead Islam riots about some nobody loser who shot up a paper book, this is upside down and dose not make good sense, this makes Islam look like radical idiots with no sense of justice at all.

[rhs648]

well a lot of christians and catholics would appreciate it if you would use that sermon on those athiest liberals

Posted by algoresarse

Whether people choose to believe in religion doesn''t matter to me. It is not my intention to judge other people''s religious beliefs. It is disrespectful to knock other people''s religious beliefs whether one chooses to believe in religion or one chooses not to believe in religion.

[guadalcanal3]

Why are we always apologizing to them...have "they" ever apologized for anything??????????