8 killed in protest at Afghanistan U.N. office

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan officials say eight people have been killed at a U.N. office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when a Quran burning protest turned violent.

Demonstrators stormed the U.N. office Friday, opening fire on guards and setting fires inside the compound after reports that a Florida pastor burned a copy of the Muslim holy book.

Gen. Daud Daud, commander of Afghan National Police in the north, says the dead included five guards working for U.N. and two other people employed at the complex. He says one other person was wounded. Later, a police official in Balkh province, said the injured person, who was a foreigner, died.