Afghan Koran protests rage on

Demonstrators across Afghanistan clashed with security forces on Wednesday for a second day of angry protests, after NATO admitted to inadvertently burning copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

At least six people have died in the violence as security forces sought to keep order. Officials said some of the dead had attacked government buildings and were shot by police.

Across the country, angry protesters hurled stones and shouted "Death to America, death to Obama, death to Karzai," torching cars and attacking shops in the process.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed to security forces to protect civilians and for protesters to remain peaceful.

"Protests are the right of the people, but I ask my countrymen to avoid violence," he said in a statement, calling on Afghans to await the outcome of investigations into the Koran burnings.

In Jalalabad, students set fire to an effigy of US President Barack Obama, while the US embassy in Kabul declared it was in lockdown.

NATO embarrassment

The US government and the commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan (ISAF), John Allen, apologized for "inappropriate treatment" of holy materials on Tuesday after local workers found charred copies of the Koran as they collected rubbish at Bagram Airbase.

"I have ordered an investigation into a report I received during the night that Isaf personnel at Bagram Airbase improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans," Allen said.

NATO and the US government also said soldiers would receive training by March 3 on how to deal with religious materials in an appropriate manner.

The Korans had been taken from a detention center library at Bagram air base because they contained extremist messages. Inmates were suspected of using the holy book to pass secret messages to each other.

The incident comes only a month after a video recording surfaced of four US soldiers urinating on the bloodied corpses of three Taliban insurgents. The video showed one of the soldiers saying "Have a great day, buddy."

acb, ng/mz (Reuters, AFP, dpa)