Afghan violence: suspected driver on run

An interior ministry spokesman confirmed police were hunting Abdul Saboor, who
worked in the compound where the two officers were found dead after being
shot at close range.

The 25-year-old from Parwan province, was described as a trusted driver who
had worked at several different ministries and had access to the command and
control centre where the officers were found.

Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State, said the protests “must
stop”.

She said: “We deeply regret the incident that has led to this protest, but
we also believe that violence must stop and the hard work for building a
more peaceful and secure Afghanistan must continue.”

Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, also appealed for protestors to show restraint
as riots continued in Kunduz.

Protests have erupted daily since the first reports that Americans had tried
to incinerate religious texts including the Koran after they were sent for
disposal from a prison library at Bagram airbase.

American generals and Barack Obama have made a series of apologies for what
they say was an inadvertent mistake, but they have failed to soothe Afghan
anger.

Mr Karzai said: “It is time to regain and preserve our calm, and not allow
our enemies to misuse it.”

A protest in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz broke into a riot, police said,
with one civilian killed and fifteen wounded, along with three police.

Seven American military trainers were wounded when a grenade was thrown at
their base in the district, Syed Sarwa Hosseini, police spokesman said. The
protestors also fired on police with small arms.

A Nato spokesman confirmed there had been an explosion outside the base, but
could not give details of casualties.

Using international civilian and military advisers to work alongside local
officials is one of the central planks of attempts to bolster the Afghan
state before security control is handed over at the end of 2014.

A lengthy withdrawal of hundreds of advisers from Kabul’s ministries would
significantly undermine the strategy.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a coalition spokesman, said the senior Nato commander,
Gen John Allen, would decide when to reinstall the advisers after an
investigation into the interior ministry killings.

He said: “We would like to get them back in as soon as possible, but the
answers that come out of the investigation will help us ensure this doesn’t
happen again.”

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