United Nations Staff

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has been plunged into jeopardy after protesters enraged by the burning of a Qur'an by Christian extremists in the US stormed a UN compound in the north of the country and killed at least seven foreign staff members.

Amid uncertainty about the overall death toll, the UN said its staff were killed when the usually peaceful city of Mazar-e-Sharif exploded into violent protest.

Four of the seven foreigners killed were former Gurkhas working as private security guards. Norway's defence ministry named another victim as Lieutenant Colonel Siki Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot working for the UN, while the sixth victim was named as Joakin Dungel, 33, a Swede working in the UN office. The seventh foreigner killed was believed to be Romanian. Two of the UN workers were reported to have been beheaded
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