Afghans stage small demonstration against Charlie Hebdo magazine near French Embassy in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan – Around 100 people have demonstrated in the Afghan capital against the publishers of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, accusing them of blasphemy.

Many of the protesters carried banners emblazoned with a red heart and the name of the Prophet Muhammad as they marched near the French Embassy in Kabul on Thursday. Some in the crowd chanted "We love Muhammad."

Protest organizer Abdul Saboor Fakheri says the demonstrators want the Afghan government to close the French Embassy and expel the ambassador to ease the anger that he says Afghans feel toward the magazine.

There have been small, sporadic protests in Afghanistan since two gunmen attacked Charlie Hebdo's Paris office on Jan. 7 for ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad in the magazine's cartoons.