Quran-burning blowback: 7 killed in Afghanistan

Demonstrators storm a U.N. office after hearing reports that a Quran was burned by a Florida pastor

Published April 1, 2011 2:58PM (EDT)

An Afghan official says seven people have been killed at a U.N. office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when a Quran burning protest turned violent.

Demonstrators stormed the U.N. office Friday, opening fire on guards and setting fires inside the compound after reports that a Florida pastor burned a copy of the Muslim holy book.

Gen. Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in several northern provinces, says the dead included five guards working for U.N. and two other people employed at the complex. He says one other person was wounded.

A spokesman for Balkh province, Munir Ahmad Farhad, says several hundred demonstrators were peacefully protesting the purported burning when the gathering suddenly turned violent.

 


By Associated Press

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