The United Nations on Thursday said the perpetrators of the holy Quran burning in Afghanistan should be punished, but insisted ties between the international community and the Afghan people would emerge stronger. “It hasn’t affected our determination to work with the people of Afghanistan and the authorities,” the special representative for the UN in Afghanistan Jan Kubis said in the wake of the deadly protests. He described the burning as a “very unfortunate mistake… very sad” and said the UN expected to see “disciplinary action” at the end of the investigation.
His comments came on the same day two NATO soldiers were killed by their Afghan colleagues in one of several attacks which have followed the Koran burning at a US base last month. The burning sparked widespread protests, leaving 30 people dead and over 200 wounded. NATO withdrew all its advisers from Afghan government ministries last Saturday after two American officers were shot and killed within the interior ministry, apparently by an Afghan colleague.
