Thousands of Afghan students chanted "Long live al Qaeda," during a protest aimed at Denmark and the Netherlands.

Protesters accused the two European countries of insults against Islam. Sunday's protest in Jalalabad was one of at least a half-dozen in Afghanistan, including one in the capital city of Kabul.

The demonstrators burned flags from each country and also shouted "Death to America."

Jalalabad was where Osama Bin Laden made his last public appearance in late 2001. The eastern city has long been seen as friendly to the al Qaeda leader, who had a major compound south at Tora Bora in the White Mountains.

"We don't want Dutch and Danish forces in Afghanistan. If our government does not kick them out, we will continue our demonstrations until they leave Afghanistan,'' said one protester, university student Qari Ibrahim. "If these forces do not leave, we are prepared to carry out suicide attacks against them.''

Both Denmark and the Netherlands have troops in the NATO security force in Afghanistan. There are 780 Danish troops and 1,650 Dutch troops. U.S. forces are operating in eastern Afghanistan.

A protest happened in Kunar province on Saturday, also in eastern Afghanistan, and in the western city of Herat, where an estimated 5,000 people rallied. There have been earlier protests in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif.

The protests have come after Danish newspapers reprinted an editorial cartoon that depicted the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

There have been a rising number of protests in the Muslim world since the cartoon's reprinting, with demonstrations in Indonesia, Sudan, Yemen, Gaza, Iran, Jordan and Iraq.

The Danish newspapers decided to reprint the notorious cartoon last month after police there said they uncovered a plot to kill the cartoonist. The cartoon was one of 12 drawings linked to deadly riots across the Muslim world in 2006.

The Jalabad protesters were also angry about Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders' upcoming short film, which reportedly calls the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, "fascist." 

In Islam, all depictions of the Prophet, positive or negative, are generally considered forbidden, as they are seen as idolatry. In Afghanistan, criticizing the Prophet Muhammad or the Qur'an are crimes punishable by death.

With files from The Associated Press