Marching on the palace

A large group of protesters marched on the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday, angry over copies of the Koran that were found to have been burned by US soldiers at a NATO base in the country on Monday.

The crowd of several hundred marching on Karzai's palace was met by police attempting to break up the protest by firing their weapons into the air. In response, the police were pelted with stones by the crowd.

The protests are in their fourth day, and other demonstrations are taking place around the country.

The protests led to the closing of a German military outpost a month earlier than planned.

The Talokan outpost was stationed by 50 troops and several vehicles, which were all relocated to the nearby base at Kundus. A demonstration of around 300 people was making its way toward the base as the troops were withdrawn.

US President Barack Obama apologized for the incident at a major military base in Bagram, saying that the copies of the Koran were burned by mistake and pledging a full investigation into the affair. Afghan laborers discovered charred copies of the book while collecting rubbish at the base.

At least eleven people have died in the three days of protests, taking place in many towns and cities across the country. That includes two American soldiers shot dead Thursday by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform. NATO did not say if those killings were related to the Koran burning incident.

Security forces are gearing up for the possibility of further trouble following Friday prayers.

mz/rg (dpa, AFP, Reuters)