Seven US military trainers were injured on Sunday when a grenade was thrown at their base in northern Afghanistan, police said, as anti-Western fury deepened over the burning of the Holy Quran at a NATO base.
“The demonstrators hurled a hand grenade at US special forces base in Imam Sahib town of Kunduz province — as a result seven US special forces were wounded,” Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini told AFP.
A spokesman for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan said: “According to initial reports, an explosion occurred outside of an ISAF installation in northern Afghanistan early this He said officials of NATO’S International Security Assistance Force were “gathering details at this time,” adding that more information could be released later.
Despite an apology from US President Barack Obama, riots raged across the country for a sixth day on Sunday against the desecration of the Muslim holy book at a NATO airbase at Bagram. Some protesters hoisted the white Taliban flag.
The Afghan Interior Ministry identified one of its employees as a suspect in the fatal shooting of two US officers at its headquarters a day earlier, an attack that prompted NATO to recall its staff from ministries.
One civilian was killed, 15 more were injured and three policemen injured in riots near the NATO base in northern Kunduz province, where the blast that injured the Americans took place, regional police chief Samihullah Qatra told reporters. The protests have killed 30 people and injured 200, including two other US troops who were shot dead by an Afghan soldier who joined rallies in the country’s east. The Quran burnings could make it far harder for NATO forces to win the trust of the Afghan public as they try to stabilise the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops at the end of 2014. Afghan security sources identified Abdul Saboor, a 25-year-old police intelligence officer, as a suspect in the shooting of the Americans at close range inside the Interior Ministry.
In a statement to media, the ministry said: “An employee has been identified as a suspect and he has now fled. The Interior Ministry is trying to arrest the suspected individual.” NATO is supposed to be moving away from a combat role to an advise-and-assist mission as early as next year. That will require NATO to place more staff in Kabul’s ministries.
CCTV footage showed that Saboor had access to the Command and Control Centre, tucked deep inside the ministry, where the slain Americans were found, security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for the burning of the Holy Quran.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai repeated his plea for calm and restraint.
