At least eight people, many believed to be foreigners, were killed Friday at a United Nations office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when demonstrators at a Koran-burning protest went on a shooting rampage.
There were conflicting reports that as many as 10 had been killed.
Afghan officials said the demonstrators stormed the UN office, opening fire on guards and setting fires inside the compound. The demonstration was organized to protest a purported Koran burning last month by Florida pastor Terry Jones.
Gen. Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in several northern provinces, said the dead included five guards working for UN and two other people employed at the complex. Daud said one other person was wounded.
A spokesman for Balkh province, Munir Ahmad Farhad, says several hundred demonstrators were peacefully protesting the purported burning when the gathering suddenly turned violent.
FN
