NATO Repels Surge on Afghan Base as Man Suspected in Deadly Attack on U.N. Office

April 1: Afghans carry a man who was wounded following an attack on UN's office during a demonstration to condemn the burning of a copy of the Muslim holy book by a Florida pastor, in Mazar-i- Sharif north of Kabul, Afghanistan. An Afghan official says seven people have been killed at a U.N. office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when a Koran-burning protest turned violent. (AP)

Three insurgents attacked a NATO base on the perimeter of Afghanistan's capital Saturday but were killed by coalition forces before they could enter the compound in an attack that came hours after protesters stormed a United Nations Agency and killed at least 11, including seven foreigners.

NATO and Afghan police told The Associated Press in an email that three of its soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack against Camp Phoenix, but that their injuries were not serious

There were reports of three attackers involved, according to Kabul Police chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi. He said two of them died when their vests detonated, a third was shot and at least one attacker was possibly wearing a suicide vest.

The base's gate had scorch marks on it, and an AP reporter at the scene saw some of the remains of at least one body belonging to a man who had blown himself up dangling from the gate.

Camp Phoenix is a base on the eastern edge of Kabul used mostly by American forces to help train the Afghan army and police.

At least 11 people, including seven foreigners, were killed in the storming of the U.N. compound in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Two of the foreigners were beheaded, Reuters reported.

At least five Afghan civilians have been killed in the attack, according to Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the provincial governor of Kandahar. He said 46 others were wounded when the crowd of hundreds of protesters turned violent on Saturday and tried to burn some vehicles and shops.

It's unclear who killed and injured the protesters, but some were shot.

The demonstration in Mazar-i-Sharif turned violent when some protesters grabbed weapons from the U.N. guards and opened fire, then mobbed buildings and set fires on the compound, officials said. Demonstrators also massed in Kabul and the western city of Herat for peaceful demonstrations.

Afghan authorities announced the arrest of more than 20 people, including a militant from Kapisa province who they suspect was the ringleader of the assault, said Rawof Taj, deputy provincial police chief. Futher information about the suspects wasn't immediately available.

The topic of Koran burning stirred outrage among millions of Muslims and others worldwide after the Rev. Terry Jones' small church, Dove Outreach Center, threatened to destroy a copy of the holy book last September. The Florida pastor had backed down but the church claimed that it went through with the burning last month.

The protest began peacefully at the U.N. compound in in Mazar-i-Sharif, choosing an obvious symbol of the international community's involvement in Afghanistan to denounce the Koran's destruction. Mazar-i-Sharif also is on a list of the first seven areas of the country where Afghan security forces are slated to take over from the U.S.-led coalition starting in July.

Gen. Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in several northern provinces, said those killed included four Nepalese guards who were working for the U.N. and two other foreigners employed at the complex. One other foreigner was wounded and died later. The nationalities of the other three foreigners was not known.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said four protesters also were killed and nearly two dozen civilians were wounded.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain LeRoy said the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, who is in Mazar-i-Sharif, believes "the U.N. was not the target."

"They wanted to find an international target and the U.N. was the one there in Mazar-i-Sharif," LeRoy told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is in Nairobi, said it was "a cowardly attack that cannot be justified under any circumstances."

President Obama strongly condemned the attack and stressed the importance of work of the U.N. staff in Afghanistan.

"Their work is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan for the benefit of all its citizens. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence and resolve differences through dialogue," Obama said.

At the U.S. State Department, spokesman Mark Toner said the burning of a Quran in Florida was contrary to Americans' respect for Islam and religious tolerance. "This is an isolated act done by a small group of people and ... does not reflect the respect the people of the United States have toward Islam," he said.

Mohammad Azim, a businessman in Mazer-i-Sharif, said that clerics with loudspeakers drove around the city in two cars on Thursday to invite residents to the protest. After Friday prayers at a large blue mosque in the city center, clerics again called on worshippers to attend a peaceful protest.

When Abdul Karim, a police officer in Mazar-i-Sharif, went inside the compound to investigate, he saw the bullet-riddled bodies of three Nepalese guards lying in the yard, and a fourth on the first floor.

He said another victim with a fatal head wound died on a stairway to the basement of the compound, which was littered with broken glass and bullet casings. A man who was killed inside a room had wounds to his face and body, Karim said.

Several hundred people also protested the Koran burning at several sites in Herat, a city in western Afghanistan. Protesters burned a U.S. flag at a sports stadium in Herat and chanted "Death to the U.S." and "They broke the heart of Islam."

About 100 people also gathered at a traffic circle near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

The Gainesville, Florida church's website stated that after a five-hour trial on March 20, the Koran "was found guilty and a copy was burned inside the building." A picture on the website shows a book in flames in a small portable fire pit. The church on Friday repeated its claim that a Koran had been burned.

In a statement, Jones did not comment on whether his act had lead to the deaths. Instead he said it was time to "hold Islam accountable" and called on the United States and the UN to hold "these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities."

Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement calling the burning a "crime against a religion." He denounced the U.N. attack as a "disrespectful and abhorrent act" and called on the U.S. and the United Nations to bring to justice those who burned the holy book.

Karzai issued a statement late Friday calling the killings an "inhumane act" that was "against the values of Islam and Afghans." He said he planned to call officials at U.N. headquarters to express his regret and condolences from the people of Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Four Suicide Attackers Killed in Kabul Attack

At least four suicide bombers were killed on Saturday morning while approaching Camp Phoenix, a Nato base in Kabul, officials said.

The incident happened when four suicide attackers reached near Camp Phoenix on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway near the city with two blowing themselves up, but foreign forces gunned down the other two, Head of Kabul Criminal Investigation Department, Mohammad Zaher told TOLOnews.

One Afghan civilian was also killed in the attack and there were no reports about anyone being wounded, he added.

One of the suicide bombers attacked with small arms before they were both killed, officials said.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

"I came here to buy something when I heard a blast and firing in the area" an eyewitness told TOLOnews reporter.

Camp Phoenix is a Nato base in eastern part of the Afghan capital where dozens of US soldiers are stationed.

Insurgents have recently increased their activities in different parts of the country.

Foreign and Afghan forces have launched many military operations in the country to clear volatile areas of militants.

The first phase of foreign troops' withdrawal process is to begin in July this year, when Afghan forces are expected to take over security responsibilities of 7 areas.

Too Much Time on My Hands -- "I See The Light"

I was waiting for church to start the other day in the Clam Shell and was goofing around and I was standing at the pulpit and said "I See The Light" -- unfortunately someone had a camera. They caught this shot. So we put if on a limited edition of the Branch Program that we gave to the District President. It was an April Fools joke -- the District President said "I see the Former Kabul Branch President". No sense of humor!!

Afghans storm UN office to retaliate for Koran burning; at least 12 people killed

Afghans storm UN office to retaliate for Koran burning; at least 12 people killed
By Deb Riechmann

Associated Press

Published: Friday, April 1, 2011 5:24 p.m. MDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans angry over the burning of a Quran at a small Florida church stormed a U.N. compound in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing seven foreigners, including four Nepalese guards.

Afghan authorities suspect insurgents melded into the mob and they announced the arrest of more than 20 people, including a militant they suspect was the ringleader of the assault in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh province. The suspect was an insurgent from Kapisa province, a hotbed of militancy about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of the city, said Rawof Taj, deputy provincial police chief.

The topic of Quran burning stirred outrage among millions of Muslims and others worldwide after the Rev. Terry Jones' small church, Dove Outreach Center, threatened to destroy a copy of the holy book last year. The pastor backed down but the church in Gainesville, Florida, went through with the burning last month.

Four protesters also died in the violence in Mazar-i-Sharif, which is on a list of the first seven areas of the country where Afghan security forces are slated to take over from the U.S.-led coalition starting in July. Other demonstrations, which were peaceful, were held in Kabul and Herat in western Afghanistan, fueling resentment against the West at a critical moment in the Afghan war.

Protesters burned a U.S. flag at a sports stadium in Herat and chanted "Death to the U.S." and "They broke the heart of Islam." About 100 people gathered at a traffic circle near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. One protester carried a sign that said: "We want these bloody bastard Americans with all their forces to leave Afghanistan."

Initially, Afghan police reported that eight foreigners had been killed in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Late Friday, Dan McNorton, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in Kabul, revised the death toll to seven — four foreign security guards and three other foreigners.

The guards were from Nepal, according to Gen. Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in several northern provinces.

Sweden Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Joakim Dungel, a 33-year-old Swede who worked at the U.N. office, was among those killed.

Norwegian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Maj. Heidi Langvik-Hansen said Lt. Col. Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot working for the U.N., died in the attack.

A western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, said the other victim was a citizen of Romania.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the head of the mission in Mazar-i-Sharif, a Russian citizen, was injured in the attack, but not seriously.

Police who went to investigate, said the U.N. compound was littered with broken glass and bullet casings.

Abdul Karim, a police officer in the city, said he saw the bullet-riddled bodies of three Nepalese guards lying in the yard and a fourth on the first floor.

He said another victim with a serious head wound died on a stairway to the basement of the compound. A man who was killed inside a room had severe wounds to his face and body, Karim said.

Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman in Balkh province, said the protest began peacefully when several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the U.N. mission's compound, choosing an obvious symbol of the international community's involvement in Afghanistan to denounce the Quran's desecration. It turned violent when some protesters seized the guards' weapons and started shooting, then the crowds stormed the building and set fires that sent plumes of black smoke into the air, he said.

One protester, Ahmad Gul, a 32-year-old teacher in the city, gave a different account. He said the protesters disarmed three guards to prevent any violence from breaking out. Associated Press video showed protesters banging AK-47 rifles on the curb, breaking them into pieces. He said the protesters were killed and wounded by Afghan security forces.

"I disarmed three guards myself and we took out the bullets," Gul said, sternly shaking his finger as he shouted. "With my eyes, I saw them (Afghan security forces) kill two and wound 10." As he talked, he became increasingly indignant and he started shouting: "Death to America!" ''We are going to fight."

The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the deadly attack, which drew condemnations from around the world.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is in Nairobi, said it was "a cowardly attack that cannot be justified under any circumstances."

He said he had instructed the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, to assess the situation and take any "necessary measures to ensure the safety of all U.N. staff."

President Barack Obama condemned the attack and underscored the importance of the U.N.'s work in Afghanistan.

"We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence and resolve differences through dialogue," Obama said.

At the U.S. State Department, spokesman Mark Toner said the burning of a Quran in Florida was contrary to Americans' respect for Islam and religious tolerance. "This is an isolated act done by a small group of people and ... does not reflect the respect the people of the United States have toward Islam," he said.

The church's website stated that after a five-hour trial on March 20, the Quran "was found guilty and a copy was burned inside the building." A picture on the website shows a book in flames in a small portable fire pit. The church on Friday confirmed that the Quran had been burned.

In a statement, Jones did not comment on whether the church's act had led to the deaths. Instead he said it was time to "hold Islam accountable" and called on the United States and the U.N. to hold "these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities."

Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement calling the burning a "crime against a religion." He denounced the U.N. attack as a "disrespectful and abhorrent act" and called on the U.S. and the United Nations to bring to justice those who burned the holy book. Karzai issued a statement late Friday calling the killings an "inhumane act" that was "against the values of Islam and Afghans." He said he planned to call officials at U.N. headquarters to express his regret and condolences from the people of Afghanistan.

The U.N. has been the target of previous attacks.

In October 2010, a suicide car bomber and three armed militants wearing explosives vests and dressed as women attacked a U.N. compound in Herat in western Afghanistan. Afghan security forces killed the attackers and no U.N. employees were harmed. In October 2009, Taliban militants attacked a guesthouse used by United Nations workers in central Kabul. Eight people were killed, including five foreigners working for the U.N.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that six U.S. Army soldiers were killed in separate incidents in fighting against insurgents during an operation in eastern Kunar province, which neighbors Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Insurgents have slowly been filtering back into Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan as the spring fighting season gets under way.

Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Kabul, Edith M. Lederer at the U.N. and Mitch Stacy in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.

It's a Girl!!

Laura and Russell Merrill had another cute little girl at 3:29 pm, on 30 March 2011. Her name is Brynlee Merrill. She weighed 7 lbs and 12 oz, and is 20.5 inches long. Both are doing well.

Scenes From Afghanistan

Angel Moroni Placed on Kansas City Temple