I received an email from the Obama reelection campaign today asking for donations of $40 or more to receive a “free” iPhone case. Is an iPhone a prerequisite for supporting Obama? Since I do not own an iPhone, here is the latest news from Afghanistan in the past hour.
David DeGerolamo
Car bomb hits airport in eastern Afghanistan
A car bomb exploded early Monday at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. The number of casualties was not immediately known.
Nangahar provincial spokesman Ahmadzia Abdulzai said he did not yet know how many were dead or injured, but there were casualties. While the blast came from explosives in a vehicle, Abdulzai also said it was not yet clear if it was a parked car that was detonated remotely or a vehicle driven by a suicide bomber into the entrance of the airport.
The blast was “very strong,” said provincial police spokesman Hazrad Mohammad. He did not have further details.
An AP photographer saw at least four destroyed cars at the gates of the airport, which serves both civilian and international military aircraft.
The explosion comes after nearly a week of deadly protests in Afghanistan in the escalating crisis over the burning of Muslim holy books at an American military base. More than 30 people have been killed in the violence, including four U.S. soldiers.
Insurgents regularly target government installations in Afghanistan so it was unclear if the Jalalabad attack was in retaliation for the Quran burning.
Afghan NATO base attacked, seven U.S. soldiers wounded
Seven U.S. military trainers were wounded on Sunday when a grenade was thrown at their base in northern Afghanistan, police said, underscoring the depth of anti-Western fury over the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base.
Despite an apology from President Barack Obama, riots raged across the country for a sixth day against the desecration of the Muslim holy book last week at the biggest NATO base in Afghanistan. Some protesters hoisted the white Taliban flag.
With few signs of the crisis abating, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan said the United States should resist the urge to pull troops out of Afghanistan ahead of schedule.
“Tensions are running very high here. I think we need to let things calm down, return to a more normal atmosphere, and then get on with business,” Ambassador Ryan Crocker told CNN’s “State of the Union” in an interview from Kabul.
“This is not the time to decide that we are done here. We have got to redouble our efforts. We’ve got to create a situation that al Qaeda is not coming back,” he said.
Under an international agreement, foreign combat forces are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
The groundswell of anger over the burning of the Koran, which Muslims revere as the literal word of God, has highlighted the challenges ahead as Western forces try to quell violence and bring about some form of reconciliation with the Taliban.
That anger has been demonstrated by attacks against NATO forces in recent days.
One civilian was killed and 18 wounded, including three policemen, in riots near the NATO base in northern Kunduz province, where the blast that wounded the Americans took place, regional police chief Samihullah Qatra told reporters.
NATO confirmed there had been an explosion outside one of its bases in northern Afghanistan, but declined to comment on casualties.
The protests have killed 30 people and wounded 200, including two U.S. troops who were shot dead by an Afghan soldier who joined rallies in the country’s east.
In an interview from Rabat, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the violence “is out of hand and it needs to stop.”
