Foreigners killed by Afghans over Koran burning

The outraged Muslims opened fire on guards and set fires inside a UN compound in northern Afghanistan, a top Afghan police official said. Four protesters are also understood to have died in the violence.

Pastor Terry Jones, the leader of a small American evangelical church in Florida, denied responsibility for the violence and called for the US to take action against countries which encourage Muslim religious intolerance.

The Florida pastor, who is barred from Britain, initially backed down on his threat to burn the Koran last year but is believed to have gone ahead with the burning last month, prompting protests in three Afghan cities.

Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman in Balkh province, said the protest in Mazar-i-Sharif began peacefully when several hundred demonstrators gathered outside the UN mission’s compound to denounce the Koran burning.

It turned violent when some protesters grabbed weapons from the UN guards and opened fire on the police, then stormed the building, he said. “I can see the smoke over the compound,” he said.

General Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in several northern provinces, said those killed included five Nepalese guards who were working for the UN and two other foreigners employed at the complex.

Dan McNorton, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, confirmed that people working for the UN had died, but he could not provide details.

“The situation is still confusing and we are currently working to ascertain all the facts and take care of all our staff,” he said from his office in Kabul.

Staffan de Mistura, the top UN official in Afghanistan, had left Kabul for Mazar-i-Sharif to personally handle the situation, he said.

Several hundred people also protested the reported Koran burning at several sites in Herat, a city in western Afghanistan. Protesters burned a US flag at a sports stadium in Herat and chanted “Death to the US” and “They broke the heart of Islam.”

About 100 people also gathered near the US Embassy in Kabul.