Afghanistan Koran protests claim more lives

Thousands of enraged Afghans have taken to the streets for a fourth day, after US soldiers inadvertently set fire to copies of the Koran. In the deadliest day of unrest so far, at least 12 people died across the country, as mobs charged at US bases and diplomatic missions. More than 20 people have been killed since the unrest began, including two US soldiers who died on Thursday. President Barack Obama has apologised for the Koran-burning incident. In a letter to his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, Mr Obama said the books had been "unintentionally mishandled".

US personnel apparently put the books into a rubbish incinerator at Bagram air base, near Kabul.

Most of the deaths reported on Friday were in western Herat province, which had seen little unrest previously.

A group of demonstrators tried to attack the US consulate in Herat city, burning police vehicles and leaving several officers injured. Hospital officials confirmed four people had been killed, but it was unclear how they had died.

Another four people died near the town of Adraskan, 70km (45 miles) south of Herat city. Deadly gun and bomb attack in Nigerian city of Gombe At least four people have been killed in the northern Nigerian city of Gombe in a gun and bomb attack on a prison and police station, officials say. Police say they repulsed the attack which they blamed on the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.

The groups has carried out deadly attacks and assassinations across northern Nigeria in recent months.

Earlier on Friday, gunmen killed five people at a mosque in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria, police said.

A police spokesman said the attackers arrived on motorcycles and opened fire at worshippers.

Nigeria is experiencing a surge in ethnic and sectarian violence.

Gombe has previously been targeted by Boko Haram. In January, an attack on a church in the city left six worshippers dead. In the latest attack, police said they successfully defended a federal prison and police station following multiple explosions and a two-hour gun battle.

Officials said four civilians were killed and police and army officers were injured.Last week Boko Haram said it was behind a similar attack on a prison in Kogi State which freed more than 100 prisoners.

Friday's attack in Kano followed the killing of several police officers in the city. The BBC's Mark Lobel in Lagos said a member of a local militia working with the government against Boko Haram was also reported to be among the dead. Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, is fighting to create an Islamic state and wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.The group has been responsible of a series of deadly attacks and assassinations across northern Nigeria in the past 17 months.