Hundreds of Afghan men demonstrated in the town of Khost on Tuesday to express their anger over the burning of a Quran by a far-right activist over the weekend in Sweden.
"
Death to
the Swedish government
, death to such politicians
," chanted protesters in the largest square in Khost, a city in eastern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan, according to an AFP correspondent.
Strong reactions
In a protest authorized by Swedish police near the Turkish Embassy, Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Koran on Saturday, sparking strong protests from Ankara and several capitals of the Muslim world.
Footage posted to social media shows protesters standing in Khost's main square, some waving the Taliban flag, as security personnel stand guard nearby.
"
The people of Khost condemn the burning of the Koran in Sweden and call on Muslim countries to raise their voices against this evil and filthy politician
," Qadeer Lakanwal, one of the organizers of the demonstration, told AFP.
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The Afghan Foreign Ministry on Sunday called on the Swedish government "
to punish the author
" of the book burning and to put an end to "
such anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim, vile and provocative acts
".
Stockholm deplored a "
deeply disrespectful
" act and expressed its "
sympathy
" to Muslims, stressing that the Swedish Constitution prevented this type of action from being prohibited.
This was not enough to calm the anger of Turkey, more than ever determined to block Sweden's candidacy for NATO membership.
Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have banned all protests they do not approve of, especially those supporting women's right to education and work.
