Angered by NATO’s desecration of the holy Quran, Afghans protested on Tuesday outside the main US military base in the capital, Kabul.

Angered by NATO’s desecration of the holy Quran, Afghans protested on Tuesday outside the main US military base in the capital, Kabul.

Thousands of protesters besieged Bagram airbase, north of Kabul, throwing petrol bombs which set fire to a gate.
A local police official said more than 2,000 people were demonstrating outside the sprawling US-run base.

"They are demonstrating over the burning of copies of the Koran inside the base," the official told Agence France Press.
An interior ministry spokesman, Sidiq Siddiqi, confirmed the demonstration and said reinforcements were sent to the area, about 60 kilometers north of the capital.

The US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, apologized as he ordered an investigation into report that troops at Bagram "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans".

"I offer my sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan," he said.

Another protest by about 500 people broke out in the Pul-e-charkhi district of Kabul not far from major NATO bases on the Jalalabad road, police spokesman Ashamat Estanakzai said.
"The police have the crowd in control, it is not violent," he added.