Smoke rises from the U.N. building in Mazar-e Sharif on Friday where 12 people died of violence, including eight U.N. staffers.Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least 12 people were killed Friday in an attack on a U.N. compound in Afghanistan that followed a demonstration against the reported burning last month of a Quran in Florida, authorities and a U.N. source with knowledge of the events said.
Eight workers for the United Nations and four Afghans were killed, said Abdul Rauof Taj, security director of Balkh province. At least 24 people were injured, he said.
In a written statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, citing preliminary reports, said it appeared that three international staffers and four international security officers were killed in the attack.
"Those who lost their lives in today's attack were dedicated to the cause of peace in Afghanistan and to a better life for all Afghans," he said.
A U.N .source said the dead included four Nepalese security guards as well as U.N. workers from Norway, Sweden and Romania. The U.N. Security Council was to meet Friday in closed session to discuss the attack.
U.N. Peacekeeping Director Alain Le Roy said five demonstrators were killed in the violence. One person's throat was cut, he said.
The attack followed a demonstration against the reported burning of a Quran by Florida pastor Terry Jones, who gained international attention last year when he announced that he was planning to burn a Quran, the U.N. source with knowledge of events said.
Jones is the pastor of the 60-member Dove World Outreach Center church near Gainesville. Last year, after an outcry followed his announcement of plans to burn a Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he canceled them. Last month, however, he reportedly did burn Islam's holy book.
The church says on its website that it planned to put the Quran on trial on March 20, and, "if found guilty of causing murder, rape and terrorism, it will be executed!" Another post on the website, which uses an alternative spelling for the book, says "the Koran was found guilty" during the mock trial and "a copy was burned inside the building."
On Friday, Jones said in an e-mailed statement that the attack in Afghanistan shows that "the time has come to hold Islam accountable."
"We must hold these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities," he said.
The attack occurred at the operations center of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in Mazar-e Sharif, said Dan McNorton, a U.N. spokesman.
"The situation is still confusing and we are currently working to ascertain all the facts and take care of all our staff," he said.
Initial indications were that knives and small arms were used in the attack, according to a U.N. spokesman who declined to be identified.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called the attacks "an act against Islam and Afghan values."
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the victims were only trying to help the Afghan people.
"In targeting them, the attackers have demonstrated an appalling disregard for what the U.N. and the entire international community are trying to do for the benefit of all Afghans," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama also condemned the attack. "We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence and resolve differences through dialogue," he said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said he would not speculate on the motivation behind the attack, but added that it was "in no way justified, regardless of what the motivation was."
The Council on American Islamic Relations released a statement condemning the attack. "Nothing can justify or excuse this attack," said the group, which describes itself as America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization.
The United Nations' special representative to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, was en route to Mazar-e Sharif to assess the situation, McNorton said.
