Seven people were killed in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Muslim holy books at a Nato military base.

Seven people were killed today in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Muslim holy books at a Nato military base.

At least three people were killed in Afghanistan today when police opened fire to disperse thousands of anti-American demonstrators.

More than 2,000 angry Afghans protested outside a US airbase after they learned that copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, were burned in a pile of rubbish.

Muslim holy books that were burned in a pile of rubbish at a US military base in Afghanistan had been removed from a library at a nearby detention centre because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions, a western military official said today.

More than 2,000 angry Afghans have gathered outside a US airbase to protest against the inadvertent burning of Korans and other Islamic religious materials.

Nineteen people have been killed in Afghanistan after a team of suicide bombers targeted a provincial governor’s compound, police have confirmed.

A cargo plane crashed into a mountaintop in eastern Afghanistan, officials said today.

Afghan and international forces have killed about 40 Taliban fighters east of the Afghan capital Kabul as part of operations to provide security ahead of parliamentary elections next month, Nato said today.

Afghan and international troops captured a Taliban district chief in a four-hour gun battle in the southern province of Helmand, Nato said today.

President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40% of the nationwide vote for president with 10 % of polling stations counted, the Afghan election commission said today as it announced the first official returns.

A huge explosion ripped through a depot of confiscated munitions in central Afghanistan, killing two people and injuring 45, and damaging scores of houses.

Explosions jolted the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif early today as United States warplanes targeted areas near the front lines in strikes coordinated with anti-Taliban fighters, Afghans on both sides said.

At least four people were killed and 20 others wounded in an earthquake that hit northern Afghanistan last night, an opposition spokesman said today.