UN strongly condemns deadly attack against staff in Afghanistan

The attack took place about 4:30 p.m. at an operations centre for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA ) in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to information released by the mission.

UNAMA has confirmed that three international staff working with the mission were killed, as well as four Nepalese Gurkha soldiers serving as guards at the operations centre. An unconfirmed number of Afghan demonstrators were killed. Many staff were also wounded, including the head of UNAMA's office in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Alain Le Roy, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told reporters that the demonstration was one of several held across Afghanistan today in protest at last month's burning of a Koran by a Christian group based in the state of Florida.

He said many of the demonstrators in Mazar-i-Sharif were armed and, while the security guards tried their best, the crowd was so large that they were soon outnumbered.

Mr. Ban described the attack as "outrageous and cowardly" and said it "cannot be justified under any circumstances", the UN News Cengtre informs.

See www.un.org