The ABC News website reports today (February 21, 2012) that U.S. troops on Afghanistan's largest military base inadvertently burned Qurans and other religious materials last night -- triggering angry protests and fears of larger demonstrations -- as news of the burning spreads.
The Qurans were mistakenly thrown out with the trash at Bagram Air Field north of Kabul, and were on a burn pile before Afghan laborers intervened around 11 p.m. last night.
The workers doused the flames with their jackets and mineral water before marching out of Bagram in a fury, carrying with them charred remains.
By this morning, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside of Bagram and on the outskirts of Kabul. Some shot bullets into the air, some threw rocks at the Bagram gate, and others yelled, "Die, die foreigners."
