JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) — More than 2,000 protesters burned Dutch and Danish flags Sunday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, the latest of a wave of rallies against cartoons and a film they say insult Islam.
"Death to Denmark, death to Holland," the mob chanted, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
The demonstrators also chanted anti-American slogans, burning an effigy of US President George W. Bush, and called on the Afghan government to cut ties with Denmark and the Netherlands and expel their troops serving here.
The protests centre on Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad as well as an anti-Koran film set to be released this month by a far-right Dutch lawmaker.
The Netherlands has about 1,500 troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led peace-keeping mission, while Denmark has more than 600.
"We want the government to kick out the Danish and Dutch troops. We want our government to cut off all its relations with their governments. They have insulted our prophet and our religion," one demonstrator told AFP.
The largest of a wave of protests over the past week was on Saturday in the western city of Herat where about 5,000 marched through the city.
The first printing of the Danish cartoons caused days of protests worldwide in early 2006, including in Afghanistan, where 11 people were killed.
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