The Telegraph: Afghanistan erupts over Koran burning.

Furious protesters firing gasoline bombs and slingshots have besieged the largest US-run military base in Afghanistan after reports that NATO troops had set fire to copies of the Koran. The enraged crowd shouted "Death to Americans" and "Death to infidels" at guards at Bagram airbase north of Kabul. The guards responded by firing rubber bullets on the crowd, said an AFP photographer, who was hit in the neck. US helicopters fired flares to try to break up as many as 2,000 demonstrators who massed outside several gates to the base. Hundreds of other people protested in the Afghan capital as security forces dispatched reinforcements in a bid to stop the demonstrations from spiraling out of control in the fiercely conservative Islamic country. General John Allen, the US commander in Afghanistan, apologized and ordered an investigation into a report that troops "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans". "I offer my sincere apologies for any offense this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan," he said. General Allen's remarkably candid statement, apparently aimed at damage limitation after similar incidents led to violence and attacks on foreigners, was played on Afghan television. Allegations that NATO troops at Bagram had set fire to copies of the Muslim holy book were first reported by Afghans working at the base, a senior government official said.