Quran Desecration in Stockholm: Taliban Bans Sweden’s Activities in Afghanistan

The Taliban announced that the group has ordered a ban on all activities of Sweden in Afghanistan. The group said that the ban will continue until the government of Sweden offers an apology to Muslims in relation to the Quran burning incident which took place in Stockholm.

On Tuesday, the Taliban asked other Islamic countries to reconsider their engagement with Sweden too.

In a statement, the Taliban stated that with the permission of the Swedish government, Quran was burned in the country, which insulted the beliefs of Muslims.

The group said that the “Islamic Emirate ordered” Sweden to stop all its activities in Afghanistan until Sweden apologises to Muslims for its "sinister act".

After protests in Islamic countries, the government of Sweden called the burning of the Quran in this country "anti-Islamic" and condemned it.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that burning Quran and any other holy book is insulting and disrespectful and a clearly provocative act. The statement added that expressing racism, xenophobia, and intolerance has no place in Sweden and Europe.

Meanwhile, the person who burned the Quran had received permission from the Swedish police, but burning the Quran near a mosque caused the police to start an investigation saying that this action might cause concern for an ethnic group.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Sunday, in an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia, called for collective measures to prevent the burning of the Quran in the future.