News - Afghanistan

Isaf Commander General John Allen has ordered an investigation into the disposal of Islamic religious materials, including Korans.

General Allen told TOLOnews: "I have ordered an investigation into a report I received during the night that Isaf personnel at Bagram Airbase improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans."

He insisted the incident at Bagram Air Field was not intentional.

"When we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them. The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities," he said. "We are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you ... I promise you ... this was not intentional in any way."

Thousand Afghan protested against the destruction of the materials outside the main US military base.

US helicopters fired flares to try to break up the demonstrators, some of whom were chanting anti-foreigner slogans and throwing stones, reports said.

TOLOnews reporter said that the demonstrators fired slingshots and hurled petrol bombs at Bagram airbase.

Bagram also houses a prison for Afghans detained by American troops.

General Allen said: "I offer my sincere apologies for any offense 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 added: "I would like to thank the local Afghan people who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action."