Afghan police officers have raided mosques across the volatile southern city of Kandahar and arrested more than 100 people sleeping in compounds, according to Afghan officials. The arrests appeared to be the first large-scale raids of mosques carried out by the country's U.S.-backed government and immediately set off a backlash from Afghan religious leaders. Two clerics in Kandahar condemned the raids, saying they resulted in the arrest of innocent people following a longstanding Afghan tradition of travelers being allowed to spend the night in mosques. The men requested anonymity, fearing reprisal from the government.Police officials said they had received intelligence that unidentified men were meeting in mosques in Kandahar, which experienced a sharp increase in suicide bombings this spring. "Some strange people stay the night at mosques, having meetings," said the Kandahar police chief, Said Aziz Ahmad Wardak.
Crowds gathered Friday and Saturday outside police headquarters in Kandahar, he said, but they remained peaceful while waiting for the prisoners to be released. Local religious leaders also met with police officials after the raids. Wardak denied it was Afghan tradition to allow travelers from other regions to stay in mosques, and he called on local clerics to halt the practice. "This is not part of tradition in Kandahar," he said. "A mosque is not a restaurant."