MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“(Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least two civilians Monday after detonating explosives at the gates of the NATO base where copies of the Koran were burned, Afghan officials said.

The bomber targeted a vehicle belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said district governor Kabir Ahmad Rahil, adding there could be foreign casualties, although a NATO spokeswoman said no coalition troops had been harmed in the attack on Bagram airfield.

Four more civilians were wounded in the attack, Rahil said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was ‘revenge’ for the Koran burning, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a text message to media. He added that ‘a number of Americans’ were killed and their tanks destroyed in the attack, although the Islamist group often exaggerate casualties.

Afghanistan’s army chief has said the burning of Korans last month at the NATO base an hour north of Kabul advanced the Taliban’s cause and warned that any repeat of such ‘negligence’ by Western forces could be disastrous.” Read more.

Afghan investigator: US burning of Qurans was intentional – “The burning of copies of the Quran at an American base in Afghanistan was intentional, said a member of the team investigating the incident that triggered widespread and deadly anti-Western protests. ‘We believe it is intentional,’ Maulavi Khaliqdad, a member of the panel established by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Monday. ‘If they burnt one or two copies, then we could have said it could have been a mistake. But they took hundreds of such books to burn. Everyone knew those were religious books.'” Read more.

‘Suicide bombings fair response to Koran burnings’ – “Matihullah, 24, had always dreamed of becoming a lawyer. Then news spread that Western soldiers had burned many copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base in Afghanistan. He gave up his studies and embarked on a new mission in life — to become a suicide bomber. “Since the desecration and burnings of holy books of the Koran, I have been burning with the desire of revenge. It is running in my blood,” said Matihullah, wearing the traditional white skull cap worn by many Afghans.” Read more.