"As the dust settles in Afghanistan after sustained protest over a Florida pastor's Quran burning, many residents in Kandahar are facing an unpleasant truth: More Qurans were burned in the course of their protests than by Terry Jones.

The demonstrations, which started peacefully, quickly turned violent, killing at least nine people and injuring scores in Kandahar City alone. And as protesters vandalized a girls' school and set fire to shops, Qurans also inadvertently went up in flames.

'If they burn a shop, there is a Quran in every shop, so this is a big problem,' says Azizullah Aziz, a perfume and soap salesman in Kandahar City. 'People don't know how to protest.' ...

Islam does not discourage protests, said the mullahs. But, they said, when something happens that causes concern, citizens must seek the advice of their religious leaders before taking action. They added that any protest should also have clear goals.

'You have to respect what the mullahs say. If they say protest, you have to protest. If they say don't protest, you can't protest. They know the Islamic law for when to protest,' said Haji Rahmudeen, head of the Kandahar Business Association, in his address to the crowd. ...

'We are serious about it. We don't want these kinds of demonstrations in our province. If people want to react to something, they must do it in a peaceful way,' said Maulavi Enayatullah, a member of the religious scholar's union in Kandahar city after attending Wednesday's gathering."