Four dead, 52 hurt in Afghan protest - official

Four Afghan protesters were killed today and about 50 wounded, a health official said, as anger erupted over a report that US…

Four Afghan protesters were killed today and about 50 wounded, a health official said, as anger erupted over a report that US interrogators in Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran.

Government offices in the eastern city of Jalalabad were set on fire, shops looted, and UN buildings and diplomatic missions attacked as thousands of people took to the streets, witnesses and officials said. Police opened fire to disperse crowds.

Fazel Mohammad Ibrahimi, head of the provincial health department, citing information from three city hospitals, said four people had been killed and 52 wounded.