Up to 20 killed at UN office in Afghanistan over Quran burning

The governor of Balkh province said insurgents had used the march as cover to attack the compound, in a battle that raged for several hours and raises serious questions about plans to make the city a pilot for security transfer to national forces.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN // Afghan protesters angered by the burning of a Quran by an obscure US pastor killed up to 20 UN staff, beheading two foreigners, when they overran a compound yesterday in the worst attack on the UN in Afghanistan.

At least eight foreigners were among the dead after attackers took out security guards, burnt parts of the compound and climbed up blast walls to topple a guard tower, said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for the northern region.

Five protesters were also killed and around 20 wounded.

The governor of Balkh province said insurgents had used a protest march as cover to attack the compound, in a battle that raged for several hours and raises serious questions about plans to make the city a pilot for security transfer to national forces.

"The insurgents have taken advantage of the situation to attack the UN compound," said the governor, Ata Mohammad Noor.

He told a news conference that many in the crowd of protesters had been carrying guns. Some 27 people have already been detained over the attack, he added.

Afghan police and army, who the United Nations rely on for their first line of defence, were apparently unable to control the crowd. German troops are also stationed in Balkh, and the Nato-led coalition said they had received a request for help.

"Eight foreigners were killed, and two were beheaded," said Mr Ahmadzai.

A United Nations spokesman confirmed employees had been killed but declined to comment on numbers of dead or their nationalities. He said the attack would not push the United Nations out of Afghanistan.

"We need to secure our colleagues in Mazar-i-Sharif. It's not a question of us pulling out. The UN is here to stay," said the spokesman Kieran Dwyer.

Staffan De Mistura, the top UN diplomat in Afghanistan, has flown to Mazar-i-Sharif to handle the situation personally.

The Russian chief of the mission in the city, Pavel Yershov, was injured in the attack but is now in hospital, Russian state television said, quoting an embassy spokesman.

Russia called on the Afghan government and international forces to "take all necessary measures" to protect UN workers in a statement issued by the foreign ministry after the attack.

Romania's foreign ministry said preliminary information suggested a Romanian citizen was among the dead, and condemned the attack. US President Barack Obama and the Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, condemned the attack.

If the death toll is correct, it would make it the deadliest attack on the United Nations in Afghanistan, and one of the worst on the organisation for years.

The worst previous attack was an insurgent assault on a guesthouse where UN staff were staying in October 2009. Five employees were killed and nine others wounded.