The call to violence comes amid continuing protests and other unrest that have killed at least seven people and prompted a call for calm from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Charred copies of Islam’s holy book were found at Bagram Air Field, sparking days of protests there and elsewhere in Afghanistan despite an apology from a U.S. commander over what he described as an inadvertent incident.
“Our brave people must target the military bases of invader forces, their military convoys, and their invader bases,” says an e-mailed statement released by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
It goes on to urge that Westerners be beaten and “capture[d].”
The burnings attracted public attention after Afghan laborers reportedly found charred copied of the Islamic holy book while collecting trash at Bagram, about an hour north of the capital, Kabul.
Protests there have been followed by others in Jalalabad and Logar, where angry crowds stormed military bases, clashed with riot police, and attacked government buildings.
An RFE/RL Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, said shots had been fired into a surging crowd by Afghan National Police officers trying to restore order on February 22.
The largest protests so far on February 23 are said to be in Laghman Province, near Kabul, with other demonstrations under way in Jalalabad and the capital.
On February 22, Karzai urged both protesters and security forces not to use violence, adding he was deeply saddened by the loss of life.
The White House, Pentagon, and NATO have apologized for the incident, calling it a mistake, and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered an investigation.
With Reuters reporting
Source Article from http://www.rferl.org/content/taliban_call_for_violence_against_westerners_koran_burning/24493308.html
