US officials said the books were mistakenly sent with a pile of trash to be disposed of before being identified by several Afghans. Although the initial protests were concentrated largely around the Bagram base, the charred remains of Korans were sent promptly to Kabul, where President Hamid Karzai and other top Afghan officials will decide how to respond to the incident.
“These people must be punished,’’ said Qari Ghulam Mustafa, a top religious official from Parwan province, where Bagram is located. He carried a stack of 10 blackened Korans on his lap as he and others traveled to the capital in a white hatchback. He said nearly 100 more books were damaged.
“If the Americans ever deny that they did this, we will show them these pages,’’ said Mullah Abdul Rahim Shah Agha, the head of Parwan ulema council, or Muslim clerical body.
The apologies from Allen and top Obama administration officials were among the most profuse of the decade-long war. But there was no immediate indication that they would calm unrest that has turned explosive in the past, notably last April when deadly protests broke out over a case of Koran-burning in Florida.
“When we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them,’’ Allen said in a statement. “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.’’
The United States faces an enormous challenge in withdrawing its troops over the next two years while attempting to protect hard-won gains and facilitate a delicate peace process between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents. With so little margin for error, yesterday’s incident could threaten the relationship on which US military and diplomatic strategies depend.
US and Afghan officials expressed concerns about the prospect of unrest in coming days.
