[5] International condemnation[6] followed the burning of copies of the Quran, on 22 February 2012, from the library that is used by inmates at the base's detention facility.

[3][7] Bagram Airfield was one of the largest American military bases in Afghanistan, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul.

In February 2012, two Afghan-American interpreters at the base removed 1,652 damaged books and Islamic texts from the library at the Parwan Detention Facility (including 48 copies of the Quran), and boxed them for storage.

"[14] Despite apologies from US President Barack Obama and US-ISAF commander John R. Allen, demonstrators attacked French, Norwegian and US bases, including those at Mihtarlam and Kapisa.

[15][16] A post on CBS News read:Most of the rioting against the United States, however, has taken place not in the Pashtun areas where the Taliban have influence, but in Kabul, the capital, a Tajik city in the north ...

[11][24] On the morning of 27 February a suicide car bomb attack at the entrance to Jalalabad Airport left nine people dead and 12 others wounded.

[citation needed] Afghans became aware that their feelings were being exploited by militant groups such as the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami.

Deutsche Welle reported: Ahmad Jawed, a protester from Herat, said it was wrong to respond to the burning of the Koran with violence.

[28] Officers at the Parwan detention center on the edge of Bagram Air Base worried that some detainees were communicating through notes written in library books, potentially to plan an attack.

As a precaution, the officers assigned two Afghan-American interpreters to sort through the library's books and identify those that might contain messages that could pose a security risk.

[28] The three service members disposing of the books "became frightened by the growing, angry crowd and rapidly departed the area" in the truck, the investigation said.

[30] "I absolutely reject any suggestion that those involved acted with any malicious intent to disrespect the Quran or defame the faith of Islam," an investigator, Brigadier General Bryan Watson,[31] wrote.

"[28] The investigators of the incident concluded that the involved soldiers did not follow proper procedures, were ignorant of the importance of the Quran to Afghans and got no clear guidance from their leaders in a chain of mistakes.

Even after commanders at the detention center realized a mistake was being made, the troops they dispatched to stop the burning went to the wrong location and didn't find the truck with the books.

[33] The Army found no ill intent on the part of the soldiers,[28] meaning they will not face criminal charges for the incident that set off deadly protests in Afghanistan in January.

[33] A Navy sailor was also investigated for his alleged role, but the admiral who reviewed his case determined he was not guilty and that no further disciplinary action was warranted.