The BBC's Paul Wood: "It shows how this issue really inflames passions"
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned an attack on a UN building in Afghanistan as "outrageous and cowardly".
At least 12 people were killed when demonstrators torched the building in the city of Mazar-e Sharif.
Three UN workers and four Nepalese guards were among the dead.
Local officials said clerics had urged people to protest over last month's burning of a copy of the Koran in the presence of US pastor Terry Jones.
He has denied responsibility for the violence in Afghanistan.
Witnesses said the protest began peacefully but suddenly turned violent.
Several demonstrators were killed by guards, who were then overpowered by the mob.
A local police spokesman told the BBC that a number of people had subsequently been arrested.
Dan McNorton, spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan, said: "Three international Unama (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) staff members were killed, and four international armed security guards were killed."
Initial reports said eight foreign UN workers had died.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt later confirmed that one of the dead was a Swede, 27-year-old UN worker Joakim Dungel.
The Norwegian defence ministry said another of those killed was Lt Col Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot. The other foreign victims are believed to be a Romanian and four Nepalese guards.
US President Barack Obama condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms", saying the work of the UN "is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan".
The top UN representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown to the area to handle the matter.
Read More
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12944851
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned an attack on a UN building in Afghanistan as "outrageous and cowardly".
At least 12 people were killed when demonstrators torched the building in the city of Mazar-e Sharif.
Three UN workers and four Nepalese guards were among the dead.
Local officials said clerics had urged people to protest over last month's burning of a copy of the Koran in the presence of US pastor Terry Jones.
He has denied responsibility for the violence in Afghanistan.
Witnesses said the protest began peacefully but suddenly turned violent.
Several demonstrators were killed by guards, who were then overpowered by the mob.
A local police spokesman told the BBC that a number of people had subsequently been arrested.
Dan McNorton, spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan, said: "Three international Unama (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) staff members were killed, and four international armed security guards were killed."
Initial reports said eight foreign UN workers had died.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt later confirmed that one of the dead was a Swede, 27-year-old UN worker Joakim Dungel.
The Norwegian defence ministry said another of those killed was Lt Col Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot. The other foreign victims are believed to be a Romanian and four Nepalese guards.
US President Barack Obama condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms", saying the work of the UN "is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan".
The top UN representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown to the area to handle the matter.
Read More
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12944851
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