KABUL, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Four people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests in Afghanistan which flared for a second day on Wednesday in several cities over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, at NATO’s main base in the country.

The American Embassy said its staff were in “lockdown” and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, a public relations disaster for U.S.-led NATO forces fighting Taliban militants ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

The U.S. government and the American commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologised after Afghan labourers found charred copies of the Koran while collecting rubbish at the sprawling Bagram Airbase about an hour’s drive north of Kabul.

It failed to contain the fury. Thousands of Afghans took to the streets again, chanting anti-American slogans.

Winning the hearts and minds of Afghans is critical to efforts to defeat the Taliban. Similar incidents in the past have caused deep divisions and resentment among Afghans towards the tens of thousands of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Seven foreign UN workers were killed during protests that raged across Afghanistan for three days in April 2011 after a U.S. pastor burned a Koran in Florida.

In Parwan province, home to the sprawling Bagram airbase where the Koran burning incident occurred, two people were shot dead by Afghan police and 13 wounded while attacking offices, provincial spokesman Roshan Khalid said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan government efforts to bring the Taliban into peace talks are stumbling and bold steps were needed to ensure that a council spearheading the reconciliation process can win the trust of insurgents, said a presidential advisor Sunday.

Assadullah Wafa also expressed concern that Afghans, who have been subjected to one conflict after another, were losing hope that peace was possible from a process that so far has been shrouded in secrecy and conflicting views of likely success.

The government has made some contacts with the Taliban, who have made a strong comeback after being toppled by a U.S. invasion in 20 01, but there are no signs that full-fledged peace talks will happen anytime soon.

U.S. diplomats have also been seeking to broaden exploratory talks that began clandestinely in Germany in late 2010 after the Taliban offered to open a representative office in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, prompting demands for inclusion from Kabul.

“The talk about peace talks is just futile,” said Wafa, an advisor to President Hamid Karzai and a former governor in some of Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces.

Karzai set up a 70-member High Peace Council two years ago, with Wafa as a member, to try and negotiate an end to the war, now dragging into its eleventh year.

It is meant to represent all ethnic and political alliances in a bid to reach out to the Taliban leadership, as well as convince grassroots insurgent fighters to join the government.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai will press Pakistan to provide access to senior Afghan Taliban leaders when he visits Islamabad this week in a bid to advance a nascent peace process with the militant group, senior Afghan officials said on Tuesday.

Pakistan is seen as critical to efforts to reach a settlement to Afghanistan’s conflict, now in its eleventh year, and is believed to have influence over Afghan insurgent groups.

“We hope that Pakistan will arrange a purposeful meeting between us and so that we find a solution to our own problems,” said one Afghan official, emphasising hopes of direct talks with Taliban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the Pakistani city where it is said to be based.

“Pakistan has paid little attention to our concerns and the level is cooperation has not been sincere or honest so far.”

Pakistan has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and denies the existence of any Quetta Shura, or leadership council.

But Afghans have long been suspicious that Pakistan uses militant groups like the Afghan Taliban as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the growing influence of rival India.

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai will press Pakistan to provide access to senior Afghan Taliban leaders when he visits Islamabad this week in a bid to advance a nascent peace process with the militant group, senior Afghan officials said Tuesday.

Pakistan is seen as critical to efforts to reach a settlement to Afghanistan’s conflict, now in its eleventh year, and is believed to have influence over Afghan insurgent groups.

“We hope that Pakistan will arrange a purposeful meeting between us and so that we find a solution to our own problems,” said one Afghan official, emphasizing hopes of direct talks with Taliban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the Pakistani city where it is said to be based.

“Pakistan has paid little attention to our concerns and the level is cooperation has not been sincere or honest so far.”

Pakistan has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and denies the existence of any Quetta Shura, or leadership council.

But Afghans have long been suspicious that Pakistan uses militant groups like the Afghan Taliban as proxies in Afghanistan to counter the growing influence of rival India.

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

KABUL (Reuters) – The U.S. military said in a secret report the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, raising the prospect of a major failure of western policy after a costly war.

Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed the existence of the document, reported by Britian’s Times newspaper and the BBC. But he said it was not a strategic study.

“The classified document in question is a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions,” he said. “It’s not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis.”

Nevertheless, it could be interpreted as a damning assessment of the war, now dragging into its eleventh year and aimed at blocking a Taliban return to power.

It could also be seen as an admission of defeat and could reinforce the view of Taliban hardliners that they should not negotiate with the United States and President Hamid Karzai’s unpopular government while in a position of strength.

The U.S. military said in the document Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) security agency was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces.

The allegation drew a strong response from Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit. “This is frivolous, to put it mildly,” he told Reuters. “We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan.”

KABUL (Reuters) – The U.S. military said in a secret report the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, raising the prospect of a major failure of western policy after a costly war.

Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed the existence of the document, reported by Britain’s Times newspaper and the BBC. But he said it was not a strategic study.

“The classified document in question is a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions,” he said. “It’s not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis.”

Nevertheless, it could be interpreted as a damning assessment of the war, now dragging into its eleventh year and aimed at blocking a Taliban return to power.

It could also be seen as an admission of defeat and could reinforce the view of Taliban hardliners that they should not negotiate with the United States and President Hamid Karzai’s unpopular government while in a position of strength.

The U.S. military said in the document Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) security agency was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces.

The allegation drew a strong response from Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit. “This is frivolous, to put it mildly,” he told Reuters. “We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan.”