Anti-US protest kills three in Afghanistan
Three dead after Afghan conflict
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Saturday, 24, May 2008 12:07
A violent anti-US protest left two Afghans and one Nato soldier dead on Thursday.
The conflict took place in western Afghanistan after a US soldier used a Qur'an for target practice, rousing a 1,000-strong protest outside the military base in Ghor province.
One International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier, seven civilians and ten Afghan policemen were also wounded in the conflict, Isaf said.
The injuries were sustained after protesters began launching rocks into the military base and setting airfield tents on fire.
Afghan Nation Police fired back at the civilians in an attempt to dissipate the conflict.
The Nato soldier who died was a 34-year-old Lithuanian male who had been on security watch when the protest began and was caught in the cross fire, reports CNN.
He is the first Lithuanian to die fighting in Afghanistan.
A Lithuanian official told the news provider: "There were local policemen involved. They reacted very quickly to help our troops."
The incident follows a series of similar protests in defense of the Qur'an, which have taken place in Badakhshan, Kunduz and Kabul.
In the Afghan capital the parliament's upper house staged their protest in the form of a walk out, after Iraqi police found a "bullet-riddled" copy of the Qur'an.
Similarly, seven people died in riots in Guantanamo Bay three years ago, which had been triggered by reports that US soldiers had flushed a copy of the Qur'an down the toilet.
Officials say that the recent conflict has not prompted any wide scale unrest.