Quran-burning by US officer "out of ignorance"

US President Barack Obama sent Afghan President Hamid Karzai a letter of apology over the burning of copies of the Quran overseen by a US officer at Bagram Airbase.

Afghanistan is a deeply religious country and many Afghans are incensed at the discovery of charred Qurans at the Bagram base.

In Obama's letter, delivered by US Ambassador Ryan Crocker Thursday in Kabul, "the president also expressed our regret and apologies over the incident in which religious materials were unintentionally mishandled at Bagram Airbase,".

Karzai told members of parliament that a US officer was responsible for the burning that was done "out of ignorance", his office said.

The incident at the US military base at Bagram north of Kabul sparked three days of fierce anti-US protests in which at least 12 protesters were killed.

Two American soldiers also died when an Afghan army colleague turned his weapon on them as demonstrators approached a US base in eastern Nangarhar province Thursday, the military and officials said.

The shooter then escaped among the crowd while two protesters were killed and six wounded as the foreign soldiers returned fire, said the district chief of Khogyani in eastern Nangarhar province, Mohammad Hassan.

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