Iraqi protesters attacked the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad for burning the Quran
Earlier Thursday, hundreds of protesters stormed the gates of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, in response to Stockholm police sanctioning demonstrations, where organizers were reportedly planning to burn the Muslim holy book again.
Videos posted on social media showed a large number of protesters around the Swedish embassy, with black smoke and fire rising from the building.
The protest scheduled for Thursday in Sweden comes weeks after a lone man set fire to Quran pages outside Stockholm's main mosque, leading to widespread anger and condemnation around the world, including in Iraq.
Swedish police said on Wednesday they had approved permission to hold a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, with media reports organisers planning to burn Muslim holy books, AFP reported.
Stockholm police told AFP they had approved permission to hold a "public gathering" outside the Iraqi embassy but did not wish to comment further on the protesters' plans.
Early Thursday, a large number of protesters broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
Obtained by CNN
According to AFP, Swedish police stressed that they only issue permits for people to hold public gatherings, not for activities carried out during the gatherings.
During the protest in Baghdad, witnesses told CNN that protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the Swedish embassy after "conveying protests against the burning of the Holy Book of God" and setting fire to part of the Swedish embassy.
Iraq's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it condemned the burning of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
The ministry said the incident was part of a worrying pattern of attacks by diplomatic missions and posed a significant security threat.
After the burning of the Quran in Stockholm, protesters broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad
It added that the Government of Iraq had taken swift action by instructing the competent security authorities to launch an urgent investigation and "take measures to uncover the circumstances of the incident, identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable in accordance with the law".
At the end of June, a man burned an Islamic holy book outside a Stockholm mosque, prompting mass condemnation across the Muslim world.
Images of the event show him as the only person other than an interpreter during the demonstration, which coincides with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, one of the most important dates in the Islamic calendar.
