Unrest

Thousands of Afghans Protest U.S.

Kabul rally decries America, Christians, Karzai.

Thousands of Afghans gathered in Kabul to protest the U.S. and their president, Hamid Karzai, in Kabul Wednesday. One person was killed and others wounded. The protesters chanted “Death to America,” “Death to Christians,” and, troubling for a counterinsurgency strategy that seeks to prop up and legitimize the local government, “Death to Karzai.” Some demonstrators waved the Taliban flag, police said, three days before important primary elections. (The Taliban said it did not stage the event.) The U.S. views the vote as a measure of Afghanistan’s stability as it readies for a review of the war strategy in December. Afghans protested for three days after a small church’s preacher said he planned to burn the Koran on September 11—three people died in those demonstrations. Police advanced into one group of several hundred protesters who were yelling “Death to American slaves” at the officers. Journalists were held back, but some witnesses said two people appeared to have been shot.