Afghan Protests Live Blog

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Afghanistan to meet with troops, commanders and Afghan government officials just days after a US soldier allegedly went on a deadly shooting spree.

The visit was planned months ago, long before the weekend slaughter that claimed the lives of 16 villagers, including women and children.

But the trip propels Panetta into the center of escalating anti-American anger and sets the stage for some difficult discussions with Afghan leaders.

Panetta and other US officials say the shooting spree should not derail the US and NATO strategy of a gradual withdrawal of troops by the end of 2014.

But it has further soured relations with war-weary Afghans, jeopardizing the US strategy of working closely with Afghan forces so they can take over their country's security. [AP]

Bernard Smith, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said that 400-500 students protested Tuesday in Jalalabad, a city in eastern Afghanistan. The protests came just two days after the killing of 16 civilians by a US soldier. 

Deadly unrest in Afghanistan has thrown a spotlight on the uneasy partnership between NATO and Afghan forces, exposing a potential Achilles heel for a war effort that depends on building trust with  Kabul's soldiers and police.

The White House and the Pentagon insisted Monday that attacks on US troops,  including the killing of two military advisers over the weekend, were "isolated" incidents and predicted turmoil over the burning of the Quran at an American base would soon blow over.

But US commanders are increasingly concerned about a rising trend of "fratricide" in the past two years, with Afghan troops turning their weapons on their American and NATO counterparts, often out of resentment and not due to an insurgent plot. [AFP]

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, DC, said that the US administration is “behind” on events in Afghanistan.

“They (US officials) have appealed for calm, they said they were sorry and that still hasn't quelled the protests we are seeing right across Afghanistan.

“… (Afghan officials) on their part are saying to the Americans ‘you have to prosecute those who were guilty of doing this to our holy book’. And at the moment the Americans don't seem inclined to do that. So they are hoping that by sitting tight over the next couple of days that things will calm down.”