Afghan protesters burn an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama during a demonstration in Jalalabad, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 3, 2011
A third day of protests against a Quran burning by a U.S. church has begun in Afghanistan, with hundreds of people taking to the streets Sunday in the southern city of Kandahar and Jalalabad in the east.
At least 10 people were killed and 83 wounded Saturday in Kandahar, where protesters marched through the streets, setting cars and buildings on fire.
On Friday, a group of people stormed the United Nations complex in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing seven foreign workers.
U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned the Quran burning, saying the desecration of any holy book, including the Quran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. But he also said that to attack and kill innocent people in response is "outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity."
The U.N. special representative in Kabul, Staffan de Mistura, said Saturday a group of insurgents had infiltrated Friday's protest and launched the deadly attack.
De Mistura said the Russian head of the U.N. office who is fluent in Dari survived after convincing the attackers he was Muslim. But he said the three other foreigners - from Norway, Sweden and Romania - were pulled out by the mob and killed one by one. Four Nepalese guards also were killed in the attack, while two others managed to escape along with two Afghan U.N. workers.
De Mistura said the attack on the U.N. mission will not deter the world body's presence in the country.