Afghan Police Fire On Stone-Throwing Cartoon Protesters

Protesters burn Danish flags in front of that country's embassy in Kabul on 6 February (AFP)

6 February 2006 -- One person was killed today amid fresh protests in Afghanistan over newspaper cartoons published by European and other newspapers depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Police reportedly fired on a crowd when hundreds of protesters threw stones at them in Mehtarlam, the capital of the Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan. Four people were reported wounded, including policemen.

Protesters were demanding the closure of the Danish Embassy in Kabul and the expulsion of Danish forces from Afghanistan, where they are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Publication of the images, first in the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" and then in other periodicals, has led to sometimes violent demonstrations and Muslim-led calls for boycotts of Danish goods.

Rallies Elsewhere

Rallies have also taken place in other Afghan cities, including the capital Kabul, Kandahar, and Mazar-e Sharif.

Elsewhere in Asia, outraged Muslims rallied outside Danish embassies in Indonesia and Thailand.

The Danish Foreign Ministry extended its travel warning from two to 16 Muslim countries after its embassies in Damascus and Beirut were set on fire in the past two days.

The cartoons, which Muslims say are blasphemous, first appeared in the Danish newspaper and have been reprinted in publications in Europe but also Malaysia and Australia.

(AFP, AP, dpa)