One person was shot dead by Afghan security forces on Saturday as protests over the burnings of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base raged for a fifth day, provincial officials said.

The shooting took place in Logar province south of Kabul after hundreds of angry protesters clashed with security forces. Two people were wounded.

Protests erupted in several other provinces on Saturday.

In eastern Afghanistan protesters threw rocks at police and tried to storm the governor’s house in Laghman province, officials said.

About 1,000 protesters came out Saturday morning in Laghman province. At first the demonstration was peaceful, but Police Chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said it quickly turned and soon protesters were throwing rocks at police and trying to attack the nearby governor’s house. There were no immediate reports of deaths, but Sarjang said people were getting caught underfoot as the mob pushed forward.

A demonstrator in Mihtarlam, in northeastern Laghman province, named only as Abdullah, who put the crowd there at “around 2,000”, said: “The protesters turned violent and were throwing stones at the governor’s palace.

“Gunshots were fired by the security forces.”

Police were trying to control the crowd, but were not shooting out of concern that even shots in the air would further incite them, Sarjang said.

Rallies were being held in the eastern provinces of Logar and Nangarhar, and the central province of Sari Pul, government and local police sources said, adding that those gatherings were largely peaceful so far.

In Sari Pul, demonstrator Mohammad Sadiq said “around 5,000” people had gathered at the Pul-e-Khishti mosque. “They condemned the holy Koran burning,” he said. “It is not violent yet.”

Authorities were not immediately able to confirm the size of the crowd.

At least 25 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since Tuesday, when it first emerged that Qurans and religious materials had been thrown into a fire pit used to burn garbage at the main U.S. base - Bagram Air Field.

American officials apologized and said it was a terrible mistake, but the incident has sent thousands to the streets in this deeply religious country.

President Hamid Karzai’s government and the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan have appealed for calm and restraint, fearful that Taliban insurgents are trying to exploit the anti-American backlash.

The circumstances surrounding the Quran incident are still subject to investigation. But U.S. officials told AFP the military removed the books from a prison at Bagram because inmates were suspected of using them to pass messages.





(Reuters)