Twelve people were killed today in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan over the desecration of copies of the Muslim holy book at a Nato military base.
The burning of the Korans at the Bagram compound earlier this week has deepened public mistrust of Nato forces struggling to stabilise Afghanistan before foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.
Hundreds of Afghans marched towards the palace of Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul, while on the other side of the capital protesters hoisted the white flag of the Taliban.
Chanting anti-American slogans, protesters also threw rocks at police in Kabul, while Afghan army helicopters circled above.
Friday is a holy day and the official weekly holiday in Afghanistan and mosques in the capital drew large crowds, with police in pick-up trucks posted on nearby streets.
Armed protesters took refuge in shops in the eastern part of the city, where they killed one demonstrator, said police at the scene. In another Kabul rally, police said they were unsure who fired the shots that killed a second protester.
Seven more protesters were killed in the western province of Herat, two more in eastern Khost province and one in the relatively peaceful northern Baghlan province, health and local officials said.
In Herat, about 500 men charged at the US consulate.
Most Westerners have been confined to their heavily fortified compounds, including at the sprawling US embassy complex and other diplomatic missions, as protests that have killed a total of 23 people, including two US soldiers, continued into their fourth day.
US president Barack Obama had sent a letter to Karzai apologising for the unintentional burning of the Korans at Nato's main Bagram air base, north of Kabul, after Afghan labourers found charred copies while collecting rubbish.
Muslims consider the Koran to be the literal word of God and treat each copy with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy.
Afghanistan wants Nato to put those responsible on public trial.
In neighbouring Pakistan, about 400 members of a hardline Islamist group staged protests. "If you burn the Koran, we will burn you," they shouted.
In Iran, senior Shia cleric Ahmad Khatami claimed the US had purposely burned the Korans. "These apologies are fake. The world should know that America is against Islam," he said in a speech broadcast live on state radio."It was not a mistake. It was an intentional move, done on purpose."
The Taliban urged Afghan security forces on Thursday to "turn their guns on the foreign infidel invaders" and repeatedly urged Afghans to kill, beat and capture Nato soldiers.
Germany, which has the third-largest foreign presence in the Nato-led war, pulled out several weeks early of a small base in the northern Takhar province today over security concerns, a defence ministry spokesman said.