Seven die in Afghan Koran protest

Seven people have been killed at a UN office in Afghanistan as a protest over the reported burning of the Koran turned violent.

Demonstrators stormed the office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif today, opening fire on guards and setting fires inside the compound after reports that a Florida pastor burned a copy of the Muslim holy book.

General Daud Daud, an Afghan National Police commander, says the dead included five guards working for UN and two other people employed at the complex.

He says one other person was wounded.

A spokesman for Balkh province, Munir Ahmad Farhad, says several hundred demonstrators were peacefully protesting at the purported burning when the gathering suddenly turned violent.