Afghan demonstrators clash with policemen during a protest against Koran desecration in Kabul Wednesday. Photo: AFP

At least eight Afghans were shot dead and dozens wounded day in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting the burning of the Koran at a US-run military base, officials said.

In Kabul and in provinces to the east, north and south of the capital, furious Afghans took to the streets screaming "Death to America," throwing rocks and setting fire to shops and vehicles as gunshots rang out.

In the eastern city of Jalalabad, students set fire to an effigy of President Barack Obama, and the US embassy in Kabul went into lockdown.

The US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, apologized and ordered an investigation into the incident.

Allen and US deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday to apologize again for the incident at Bagram airbase north of Kabul, the president's office said.

Karzai asked Allen to cooperate fully with a government investigation into the burning and told him to "make sure that such incidents do not happen again in future," a statement said.

Karzai also urged the US military to speed up a transfer to Afghan control of the controversial US-controlled prison at Bagram.

AFP