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Afghan protests erupt over Koran 'burning'
Afghan protesters firing slingshots and petrol bombs besieged the largest US-run military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday, furious over reports that NATO troops had set fire to copies of the Koran.
10 people were killed and dozens of others were injured during days of unrest unleashed last April over the burning of a Koran by American pastor Terry Jones in Florida
Guards at Bagram airbase, about 60 kilometres north of Kabul, responded by firing rubber bullets from a watchtower.
Hundreds of other people protested in the Afghan capital as security forces dispatched reinforcements in a bid to stop the demonstrations from spiralling out of control in the fiercely conservative, Islamic country.
The US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, apologised and ordered an investigation into a report that troops "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans".
Allegations that NATO troops working inside the base had set fire to copies of the Muslim holy book were first reported by a senior government official.
A local police official said more than 2,000 people were demonstrating outside the sprawling US-run Bagram base.
Similar protests have in the past turned violent in Afghanistan, an extremely devout Islamic nation where an insult to the religion carries the death penalty.
Some 10 people were killed and dozens of others were injured during days of unrest unleashed last April over the burning of a Koran by American pastor Terry Jones in Florida.
