Kabul (dpa) – Two foreign military advisors, reportedly United States nationals, were killed in a gun fight inside Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, as scores of Afghans took to the streets for a fifth day over the desecration of the Koran by US troops. At least four demonstrators were also killed in a day of violent protests across the country, officials told dpa. “Initial reports indicate an individual turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in Kabul City today, killing two service members,” NATO said. The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed that “two international colleagues were murdered” inside the building, adding that an investigation was underway. Saturday's incident came just days after two US soldiers were killed by an Afghan turncoat inside a military base in eastern Afghanistan. Local media said the latest casualties were also American, while the suspect shooter was thought to be an Afghan policeman. It was not immediately clear whether the shootout was directly related to the Koran burning incident. In the latest protests, at least four Afghans were killed and 51 others, including several policemen, injured during a demonstration in the northern city of Kunduz, an official said. Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the police in Kunduz, said the protesters had tried to storm a United Nation's office and the local police's headquarters, but had failed to get inside. Reports of a UN building being set on fire by the protesters were denied by the official. “They threw rocks at the office of the UN and the police headquarters, but no damage was caused,” he said. An official with the UN in Kabul said all UN staffs were safe. Reports of another casualty during protests in Logar province, south of Kabul, were also denied by the provincial governor's spokesman. In the eastern province of Laghman, protesters stormed the office of the provincial governor, a senior official said. “The protesters breached inside the governor office but they were not able to vandalize the office,” said Jamyatullah Hameedi, deputy governor of Laghman province. The incident took place in the city of Mehtarlam, the provincial capital of Laghman, which was handed over by NATO to local Afghan forces for security responsibility last year. “At least 20 people were injured. Two of them are in a critical condition and have been sent to a hospital,” Hameedi said. Thousands of people have been protesting across Afghanistan since Tuesday following reports that US soldiers erroneously burnt copies of the Qur'an. At least 29 people, including US soldiers, have been killed in the violence over the past five days. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/bBvcS Tags: Afghanistan, Attack, Taliban, United States Section: Asia, Latest News
