Afghans protest reported Koran desecration at U.S. base

Chanting "Death to America," a crowd protests outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

About two thousand Afghans came in anger after a report that foreign troops inside had disposed of copies of the Koran and other religious items.

SOUNDBITE) (Dari) ANTI U.S PROTESTER, HAJI SHIRIN, SAYING:

"We Afghans don't want these Jewish infidels - they are the enemy of our soil, our honour and our Koran. I urge all Muslims to sacrifice themselves in order to pull out these troops from this soil."

U.S. helicopters fired flares to try to break up the demonstrators.

And NATO's top general in Afghanistan, General John Allen, tried to contain the fury, promising an investigation into what happened.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) GENERAL JOHN ALLEN, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE (ISAF)

"This was unintentional. There was no intention by anyone at ISAF to defame the faith of Islam, to desecrate the precious religious materials of this faith."

The incident could be a public relations disaster for the U.S. military as it tries to pacify the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014.

Katharine Jackson, Reuters.