Protests Over Koran Burning Controversy: U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan on Lockdown

The U.S. embassy in Kabul has been on lockdown in the wake of widespread protests in multiple Afghan cities over disrespectful burning of the Islamic scripture Koran, which the U.S. military said was caused inadvertently.

 The embassy announced on its Twitter page that the Embassy is on lockdown, and all travel is suspended.

Anti-American protesters have been chanting angry slogans against the U.S. outside housing complexes for foreigners. Security forces, in order to contain the riots fired gunshots into the air to disperse the crowd. Gunfire wounded at least 26 people, according to a Reuters report.

The Pentagon has apologized for the burning of the Koran in a trash dump at the biggest U.S. military base in Afghanistan which triggered the protests.

 George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Tuesday that these actions do not represent the views of the United States military.

 In a statement which the US Embassy posted on twitter apologizes to the Afghan people and disapproves of such conduct.

  A tribal elder from Kabul, told Bloomberg in a phone interview that this incident is a big victory for the Taliban because the Afghans will believe what they say- that the foreigners are here to dishonor their book and their Islamic culture.

Afghanistan saw agitated protests last month when a video was posted on the Internet which showed four U.S. Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. The Pentagon had condemned the incident.