Nine people have been killed and over 80 wounded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar in violent protests sparked by the burning of a Quran by a radical Christian preacher in the United States, an Afghan government official said on Sunday.
The actions of Christian preacher Terry Jones, who supervised the burning of the Quran at a church in Florida on March 20, have outraged Muslims worldwide and triggered riots in Afghanistan where protesters stormed a UN compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday, killing seven UN foreign staff.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday called “outrageous” the killings in Afghanistan during Quran burning protests.
“No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act,” Obama said.
The U.S. president extended his condolences to the families and loved ones of UN employees killed by protesters in Mazar-i-Sharif.
“Now is a time to draw upon the common humanity that we share, and that was so exemplified by the UN workers who lost their lives trying to help the people of Afghanistan.”
KABUL, April 3 (RIA Novosti)