Monday, February 27, 2012

Taliban stepping into the void and taking advantage of the opportunities for causing mayhem


Blast rocks eastern Afghan city
At least nine killed in explosion at entrance of Jalalabad airport amid continuing outrage over Quran burning.
Last Modified: 27 Feb 2012 05:59
The blast comes after almost a week of deadly protests over the burning of copies of the Quran[Reuters]
At least nine people have been killed and 12 others injured in a large explosion at the entrance of the airport in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, police say.
Provincial police spokesman Hazrad Mohammad said "a very strong'' blast hit the airport in Nangarhar province on Monday morning.
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According to Reuters news agency, Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was "revenge" for the burning of copies of the Quran which sparked off deadly protests almost a week ago.
The casualties appeared to be civilians, said Obaidullah Talwar, a senior police detective for eastern Nangarhar
province, of which Jalalabad is capital.
More than 30 people have been killed, including four US soldiers, since protests erupted over the burning of copies of the Quran in an incinerator pit at the US-run Bagram airbase north of Kabul.
"Most of the deaths have been Afghans caught up in violence at protests, or shot by security forces," Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul, said.
"The Taliban have been encouraging people to attack foriegn troops, but its been mostly Afghan casaulties."
Appeal for calm
On Sunday, seven US soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack on their base in northern Kunduz province, police said.
President Hamid Karzai went on television on Sunday to appeal for calm.
Karzai "condemned with the strongest words" the treatment of Islam's holy book and said the perpetrators should be punished, but told his countrymen: "Now that we have shown our feelings it is time to be calm and peaceful."
He said he respected the emotions of Afghans upset by the incident, but urged them not to let "the enemies of Afghanistan misuse their feelings".
The Taliban claim to have been behind the shooting deaths of the two US advisers in the interior ministry in Kabul on Saturday.
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1 comment:

  1. Unknown2/27/2012

    http://www.juancole.com/2012/02/quran-burning-protests-spread-santorum-calls-obama-weak-for-apoloizing.html

    an explanation as to what sparked the shooting within one of the most secure areas in Afghanistan...


    Two US military advisers to the Ministry of the Interior were shot dead on Saturday by an Afghan security man. It turns out, according to recovered security tapes, that they were watching footage of the protests and cursing out the protesters, then speaking badly of the Qur’an. The Afghan argued with them that they should be more respectful, and when the argument escalated, he drew on them and shot them both dead.

    If this story is true, it distills the arrogance and bigotry of some US personnel in Afghanistan (they are in someone else’s country). They didn’t deserve to meet that end, but cursing the Qur’an in a Muslim country in front of a local Muslim is about the most foolhardy act I can imagine. The strong evangelical element in some parts of the US military makes it particularly unsuited to more or less running a largely illiterate Muslim nation that is deeply religious. Evangelicals are the American group that has the highest disapproval of Islam.

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