2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests

2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests
Part of War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Bagram Airfield, where the Quran burnings took place.
Date	22 February 2012 (2012-02-22)[1] – 27 February 2012
Location	Afghanistan 34°56′46″N 69°15′54″E / 34.94611°N 69.26500°E / 34.94611; 69.26500
Caused by	Quran desecration
Methods	Demonstrations, riots and assassinations
Casualties and losses
Deaths: 41[2] Injuries: At least 270[3]

The 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests were a series of protests of varying levels of violence which took place early in 2012 in response to the burning of Islamic religious material by soldiers from the United States Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. On 22 February 2012, U.S. troops at Bagram Base disposed of copies of the Quran that had been used by Taliban prisoners to write messages to each other. As part of the disposal, parts of the books were burned. Afghan forces working at the base reported this, resulting in outraged Afghans besieging Bagram AFB, raining it with molotov cocktails and stones.^[4] After five days of protest, 30 people had been killed, including four Americans. Over 200 people were wounded.^[5] International condemnation^[6] followed the burning of copies of the Quran, on 22 February 2012, from the library that is used by inmates at the base's detention facility. The protests included domestic riots which caused at least 41 deaths and at least 270 injuries.^[3][7]