02 April 2011

Afghanistan: when gentle Mazar-e-Sharif erupted in violence

And there were mixed feelings about the rights and wrongs of an incident that cost the lives of seven UN staff – four Gurkha security guards and three European UN diplomats – making it the worst crisis to hit the international organisation in Afghanistan.

Yes, they thought what happened on their doorstep was wrong – particularly the beheading of two UN staff, who they accepted were only in Mazar to "serve Afghanistan". But, they said, "the foreigners" needed to understand the level of anger at the desecration of the Qur'an by a Christian extremist on the other side of the world.

"Why do they not respect us?" asked Jamal. "We do not burn their Christian books, so they need to understand that the Qur'an is our most holy book." [guardian.co.uk] Read more