KABUL – The Afghan Interior Ministry says seven people have been killed in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Muslim holy books at a NATO military base.

The ministry says in a statement the deaths occurred Wednesday in the Afghan capital of Kabul, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, and in the provinces of Logar and Parwan.

It said four of the dead were killed during a protest in Parwan.

The ministry said security guards at a U.S. base outside Kabul killed one man, while one man each was killed during protests in Jalalabad and Logar.

The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is on lockdown as protests rage in multiple Afghan cities over an incident the U.S. says was inadvertent burning of Muslim holy books at a military base.

"The Embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended," the embassy announced on its Twitter page Wednesday. "Please, everyone, be safe out there."

The embassy later released an official security announcement, saying U.S. citizens should remain vigilant and avoid areas where westerners congregate.

"We wish to remind U.S. citizens that past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets of opportunity," the statement said. "U.S. citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations, spontaneous or planned."

On the outskirts of the capital city of Kabul, security forces fired volleys of gunshots into the air to disperse hundreds who had gathered outside a housing complex for foreigners. Angry demonstrators set a fuel truck ablaze outside the complex, on a main highway linking the Afghan capital with the eastern city of Jalalabad.

"Death to America," chanted the angry protesters and automatic weapons fire could be heard, but it was unclear if Afghan security forces or camp guards were firing.

The city's police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi arrived at the scene with hundreds of reinforcements in an effort to bring the crowd under control.

A doctor at Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan hospital said at least 10 protesters had been brought to the hospital with gunshot wounds. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said one of the wounded was in critical condition.

Several miles away, hundreds were also gathered outside Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base, and were hurling rocks at the installation, said Kabul provincial police spokesman Ashmatullah Stanekzai. There were reports that shots were also heard near Camp Phoenix.

Stanekzai said another smaller and peaceful demonstration with just over 100 people was taking place in western Kabul near the capital's university.

Police in eastern Jalalabad city said that thousands were gathering in parts of that city to demonstrate against the incident.

The U.S. military apologized Tuesday for the burning of books, including Korans, that had been pulled from the shelves of a detention center library adjoining Bagram air base because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions.

The White House later echoed military officials and said the burning was an accident.

"We apologize to the Afghan people and disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms," they said in a statement quoted by the embassy on Twitter. ""This does not reflect the great respect our military has for the religious practices of the Afghan people."

U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, ordered an investigation into the incident, which he was "not intentional in any way."

"These kinds of incidents, when they do occur, will be corrected in the fastest and most appropriate manner possible," Allen said in a statement quoted by the embassy on Twitter. "We've been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them, and we want to give them a bright future."

Allen thanked the local Afghans "who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action."

"We are thoroughly investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again," he said in a statement.

The incident stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan and fueled the arguments of Afghans who believe foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion.

Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials took him to a burn pit on the base where 60 to 70 books, including Korans, were recovered. The books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base, he said.

"Some were all burned. Some were half-burned," Zahed said, adding that he did not know exactly how many Korans, the Muslim holy book, had been burned.

Zahed said five Afghans working at the pit told him that the religious books were in the garbage that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported to the pit in a truck late Monday night. When they realized the books were in the trash, the laborers worked to recover them, he said.

"The laborers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire," he said.

Afghan Army Gen. Abdul Jalil Rahimi, the commander of a military coordination office in the province, said he and other officials met with protesters, tribal elders and clerics to try to calm their emotional response. "The protesters were very angry and didn't want to end their protest," he said.

One protester, Mohammad Hakim, said if U.S. forces can't bring peace to Afghanistan, they should go home.

"They should leave Afghanistan rather than disrespecting our religion, our faith," Hakim said. "They have to leave and if next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Koran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body."

Later, however, the protesters ended the rally and said they would send 20 representatives from the group to Kabul to talk with Afghan parliamentarians and demanded a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Rahimi said.

The governor's office in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan called the incident a "shameful move by some stupid individuals."

In April 2011, Afghans protesting the burning of a Koran by a Florida pastor turned deadly when gunmen in the crowd stormed a U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and killed three staffers and four Nepalese guards.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/22/anti-american-protests-continue-in-afghan-cities-over-koran-burning-incident/?test=latestnews#ixzz1nBVWqI5B

Burning them is light compared to what I would do!

I like the part were they say,' there could be attacks if provoked.
Do the muzzies need an excuse?
Let the fires burn bright and light up the night sky.

speaking as a true american as portrayed by the Islamic extremists ... looks like you and the terrorists both agree on something afterall

Those who promote and enjoy stories such as this one are the same who would be out with their guns if anyone were to burn their holy bible.

We are a nation of hostile hypocrites....it's time to take a good hard look in our mirrors!

...at what point in time is the realization made that the book has become more important than the words contained within...

but it seems to be OK for them to do whatever they're doing?

Did I say it's ok...NO I didn't.

I do not approve of violence on EITHER side.

I do not condone WAR at all!

Unlike others, I am able to have compassion for BOTH sides!

List some examples of this happening..

I want to know when people amassed in the streets with weapons after a bible was burned..

Comparing the bible to the koran is not quite accurate. The koran is more important to a muslim than a bible is to a christian.

most afgans are illiterate and lack education, this is not to excuse their violence but it does explain their reactions, at least in part.

What i want to know is what was going through te heads of those who burned the korans in the first place? what did they think would happen? after 10 years occupying the country the western forces should have a better idea on how to act...

List examples of hostility towards other nations???

Pffft. Read these threads on a daily basis!

No, if someone burns a bible so be it. I'm not gonna fly a plane into a building like they do. Besides the Bible doesn't preach pedophilia like the Koran does.

If a vastly more powerful invading force occupies your country for years and kills of thousands of your people and then stamps down on your right to free speech for example, how far would you go to get your right to free speech back? or would you simply do nothing and take it?

every culture holds something important that might not neccesarily be important to other cultures, but it must be respected just the same, especially if you are occupying the country of said culture

I didn't realize you were such a seeker of truth...knowing so much about sacred texts and all.

So again all I can say is...

instant karma's gonna get you...shine on!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZEJhgIsjxI&feature=fvst

Oh great whats next the air force gonna start dropping crosses all over North Miami Beach?
Or Israel gonna start dropping Yamakas on the Vatican to confuse the pope on which zucchetto is his?

So there are no examples of people in this country amassing in the streets brandishing weapons in protest of someone burning a bible..

That is what I thought.

Free Speech in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the Taliban?

Are you kidding us?

Well you thought whatever you wanted to think...

I could give a rats *** if you disagree with me as
far as this country being hostile towards others.
The truth is out.
The world already knows.
Doesn't matter what either of us thinks.

I typically disagree with comments that are made up, with nothing factual to support the claim.

You keep changing the subject..

So let me post your comment that I took issue with just to be clear..

Those who promote and enjoy stories such as this one are the same who would be out with their guns if anyone were to burn their holy bible.

I guess 'would' and 'if' would be the key words here.

I suppose I could post links of christians praying for the death of the president, or blowing up abortion clinics, or killing abortion doctors, to make a point of the possibility of radical christians...in comparison to radical muslims....
but I can't find my glasses and it gives me a headache to surf the net without them.
This conversation is hardly worth getting a headache over.

Those who promote and enjoy stories such as this one are the same who would be out with their guns if anyone were to burn their holy bible.


You asked to produce examples of cases that had happened.