KABUL, Afghanistan, May 22, 2008
Afghan Quran Protest Turns Deadly
Three Killed During Rally Against U.S. Sniper Who Used Holy Book For Target Practice
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Afghanistan is a Muslim nation where blasphemy of Muhammad and the Quran is considered a serious crime that carries the death sentence. (AP)
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Fast Facts Afghanistan Learn about the people, economy and history.
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.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- 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
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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 - Reply to this comment
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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. - Reply to this comment
- 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.
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- 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. - Reply to this comment
- mimmick8
Yes i would love to see obama rush right over there and embrace his radical brothers. - Reply to this comment
- 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? - Reply to this comment
- 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? - Reply to this comment
- 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.
- Reply to this comment
- 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. - Reply to this comment
- Why are we always apologizing to them...have "they" ever apologized for anything??????????
- Reply to this comment
- I am going to put a video on YouTube of me urinating on the Quran.
Posted by jboxton
DANM!!!! You beat me to it!!! Well, I''ll just go ahead and wrap my head up with a towell, make sure it has some scribly lines marked all over it that don''t make any danm sense, make a dummy looking like Muhammad, pour some kerosine over it, and then light it up!!! Burn, Muhammad, burn!!! Death to the infidels!!! Death to Islam!!! - Reply to this comment
- these people should migrate to san francisco
Posted by algoresarse at 12:08 AM : May 23, 2008
You are my new superhero! :) - Reply to this comment
- Sheite!!! This is the same story they''ve been running. I thought some new losers were killed.
- Reply to this comment
- These people cannot be fixed. Bomb that sh*t ball sandbox and let evolution start over. They are all insane. I am going to put a video on YouTube of me urinating on the Quran.
- Reply to this comment
- Posted by rhs648 at 10:02 PM : May 22, 2008
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CBS) This story was written by CBS News producer Farhan Bokhari based in Islamabad, Pakistan, for CBSNews.com.
Amid cries of %u2018Allah o Akbar%u2019 (god is great), a young boy, barely 12 years old, lifts his machete and strikes at his victim who is lying on the ground, all tied up for the kill.
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these people should migrate to san francisco - Reply to this comment
- Hi ToolMangler - It is a shame that we can''''t legislate good manners, appreciation, respect, and good manners. Freedom of religion is something many posters take as a joke. It is one thing to choose not to beleve, it is another to insult the religious beliefs of other people. It is questionable if the writers of our constitution had this is mind when they included freedom of speech.
Posted by rhs648 at 10:02 PM : May 22, 2008
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well a lot of christians and catholics would appreciate it if you would use that sermon on those athiest liberals - Reply to this comment
- he Sniper in question should Personally go and appologise for using a holy book for target practice...
Posted by QuetzalCrist at 04:56 PM : May 22, 2008
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*********** maybe you should personally ask the sniper to apologize ********* - Reply to this comment
- Gosh there''''s lots of foley''''s and craigs and haggards in the GOP. What happened to you people?
Posted by stevex47 at 04:40 PM : May 22, 2008
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a lot..how about you ''people'' i see you are still at that whinning phase oh i mean ''negotiation'' - Reply to this comment
- Too bad folks cant see that Boosh''''s policy''''s lead to growing radical terrorists. Stop drinking the kool aid, and see the light.
Posted by stevex47 at 04:39 PM : May 22, 2008
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these radical terrroist had grown during the clinton era. big enough and strong enough to launch an attack inside our own borders.
if you are going to insult me..at least get something a bit original..not something you stole from comedy central. - Reply to this comment
- t will be so very exciting to see Obama fix all this. I can hardly wait.
Posted by minnick8 at 11:11 PM : May 22, 2008
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me too...do you have a muslin name already picked out? - Reply to this comment
