Koran Burning Sparks Violent Afghan Protests

Dove World’s plan to burn Korans set off protests across Afghanistan today, and two of them turned violent. In western Afghanistan, four protesters were shot, one of them fatally, outside a NATO base in Bala Buluk. “We do not know who shot them,” said a doctor at a local hospital. “Whether police shot them or coalition forces, it’s not clear.” Details at the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times.

In the north, meanwhile, a mob tried to storm a NATO reconstruction base in Faizabad. Shots rang out from inside the base, wounding five protesters, three of them critically, according to officials. Four policemen were also wounded by rocks hurled from the crowd. A NATO spokeswoman said that no international troops opened fire. “Initial reporting does indicate Afghan forces fired shots, but I would have to defer” to Afghan authorities, she said. (More Terry Jones stories.)