Two US officers shot dead amid Koran burning furore

TWO American military personnel, believed to be a colonel and a major, were killed in the Afghan interior ministry yesterday, the latest deaths following riots over the burning of Korans at Bagram airbase.

Nato’s top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, said he was recalling all staff working at ministries in the Afghan capital as part of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) following the latest incident.

“For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other Isaf personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul,” Allen said. Afghanistan’s Taleban movement claimed responsibility for the shootings, which it said were in direct retaliation for the “desecration” of Korans at Bagram. Copies of the holy book were inadvertently sent to be burned during a clear out of the detention facility at the camp north of the capital.

Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an e-mail statement to the media that four high-ranking Americans had been killed, though the Islamist group often inflates claims of casualties.

An Afghan security source accepted the shooting of the two Americans could be connected to the burning of the Korans. The Koran incident underscored the deep cultural divide that still exists more than ten years after US troops invaded to oust the Taleban and has deepened public mistrust of western troops struggling to stabilise the country.

Muslims consider the Koran to be the literal word of God as relayed by the angel Gabriel to Muhammad – the word Koran means Recital – and treat each copy with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy to Muslims.

Four Afghans were shot dead by Afghan security forces as demonstrators came out to the streets yesterday, with an attempt by protesters to bombard a UN compound in the north.

Despite an apology from US president Barack Obama and a call for restraint from Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, thousands have taken to the streets. Twelve people were killed and dozens wounded on Friday.

On Thursday, an Afghan national army soldier joined the protests and gunned down two US soldiers. Hundreds of people tried to overrun a compound in the northern Kunduz province housing workers from the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (Unama), but were held back by police, an interior ministry spokesman said.

A similar incident occurred last April when protesters angry over the burning of Korans by a fundamentalist Christian pastor in the US stormed a UN compound in northern Balkh province, killing seven.

The protests could dent plans for a strategic pact that Washington is considering with Kabul, which would allow a sharply reduced number of western troops to stay in the country, well beyond their combat exit deadline.