Quran (photo courtesy of Creative Commons).

According to The Washington Post, Afghan workers inside the Bagram air base told local residents that copies of Islam’s holy text had been burned. The holy books had been removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions, a western military official told the Associated Press. They were charred but none were completely destroyed.

U.S. Gen. John Allen apologized to the Afghan people. Allen is the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

“It was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials,” Allen said on NATO Tv. “It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it we immediately stopped and we intervened.”

Afghan laborers working at the base saw the books in the burning trash late Monday night and quickly worked to remove them.

“The laborers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire,” Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, told the AP.

A protester, Mohammad Hakim, told the AP that if U.S. forces can’t bring peace to Afghanistan, they should go home.

“They have to leave and if next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Quran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body.”

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Reach executive producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.