Afghans Riot Over Gitmo Report

The Afghan Interior Ministry said four people were killed and 71 injured in the eastern city of Jalalabad when police opened fire to control hundreds of rioting students angered at alleged abuse of the Quran at the U.S. jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Shouting "Death to America," demonstrators smashed car and shop windows Wednesday and stoned a passing convoy of American soldiers in the biggest outpouring of anti-American sentiment since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

The U.S. troops fired into the air before quickly leaving the area, provincial intelligence chief Sardar Shah told The Associated Press.

"They are very angry and are spread over all over the city," Shah said. "There are police, army and Americans shooting into the air. ... We've tried to get control but I think it is impossible."

The incident happened with Afghan President Hamid Karzai out of the country, in Brussels for a NATO meeting, where he told allies that Afghanistan will need international assistance for "many, many years to come."

An Associated Press Television News cameraman in Jalalabad said the crowds grew larger and wilder after the troops opened fire and the streets were void of traffic. Mobs pelted a government office and the local television station with rocks and tore down posters of Karzai.

Many of the injured were being treated in Jalalabad hospital for bullet wounds, said deputy health chief Mohammed Ayub Shinwari.

Students held similar but peaceful protests in cities in neighboring Laghman province and Khost, further to the south, suggesting the protests were coordinated.