"Death to America" and "Death to Karzai", "They have insulted our Quran"

Nine people were killed and 73 others injured during protests in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday against the burning of the holy Quran in the US where around 2,000 people were demonstrating across the city.

The Kandahar protests began in the city centre and spread to other locations as police clashed with crowds marching towards the UN offices and provincial administration headquarters, witnesses said.

A doctor in Kandahar city's main Mirwais hospital earlier said four people had died. "Thirty-two people suffering from bullet injuries and wounds caused by rocks have been admitted," said Abdul Qayoum Pukhla, a senior doctor at the hospital.

"Death to America" and "Death to Karzai" chanted the demonstrators. "They have insulted our Quran," shouted one.