Five people have died including a man burned alive inside a Catholic church in Niger during riots sparked by Charlie Hebdo's latest cover depicting the Prophet Mohamed.

A police officer and four civilians were killed on Friday in Zinder, the country's second largest city, as churches burned and Christian homes and a French cultural centre were looted by mobs.

The death toll originally stood at four but rose to five after emergency services discovered a body in one of several churches that had been set on fire.

On Saturday a second day of protests started outside the grand mosque in the capital Niamey as stone-throwing protesters were met by police firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.

A church, which was damaged after it was set on fire by protesters during a demonstration against French weekly Charlie Hebdo's publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed in Niamey, (AFP/Getty Images)

The French flag was set on fire as protesters set up roadblocks and the French embassy warned citizens not to go out on the streets.

Demonstrators attacked a police station and burned police cars after authorities banned a meeting called by local Muslim leaders. Four preachers who had convened the meeting in Niamey were arrested, police said.

At least two more churches were set alight in the city as rage over Charlie Hebdo's cover was targeted at Christian symbols in the former French colony.

“They offended our Prophet Mohamed. That's what we didn't like,” said demonstrator Amadou Abdoul Ouahab.

“This is the reason why we have asked Muslims to come, so that we can explain this to them, but the state refused. That's why we're angry today.”

A police van set on fire by protesters during a demonstration against French weekly Charlie Hebdo's publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in Niamey. (AFP/Getty Images)

Protests were also reported in regional towns, including Maradi, 375 miles east of Niamey, where two churches were burned. Another church and a residence of the Foreign Minister were set on fire in the eastern town of Goure.

Marches also took place after Friday prayers in the capital cities of Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Algeria - all former French colonies.

In Algiers, several police were injured in clashes with protesters angered by the cartoons amid riots in Algiers but most marches were peaceful.

Protests also turned violent on Friday in Karachi, Pakistan, where police used tear gas and a water cannon against demonstrators outside the French consulate.

People run past a police truck on fire by protesters during a demonstration against French weekly Charlie Hebdo's publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed in front of the grand mosque in Niamey (AFP/Getty Images)

A photographer for French news agency Agence France-Presse was shot during the riots and is being treated.

President Francois Hollande condemned the violence, saying people did not understand France's commitment to freedom of speech, even in the case of the controversial cartoons of Mohamed.

“There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech,” he said. “We've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected.”

The first edition of Charlie Hebdo since the massacre sold out within minutes on Wednesday, causing the print run to increase to 5 million.

Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Show all 15 1 /15 Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine, featuring a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed on the front cover Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo The first edition of Charlie Hebdo after 12 people were massacred at its offices AFP/Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo A woman reads the first edition of Charlie Hebdo after 12 people were massacred at its offices AFP/Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo As people march in Paris and the Arc de Triomphe displays the slogan 'Paris is Charlie', the tomb of the unknown soldier says "I have an erection!" AFP/Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo A cartoon showing the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions carving up the world, mirroring the post-war Yalta Conference between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. The Catholic figure says he will guard the West and directs the Jewish figure to guard the East. AFP/Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo What future for our jihadists? 'Security guard at Carrefour?' AFP/Getty Images Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo A man pays for his new Charlie Hebdo edition at a newsstand in Paris Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo People browse a newsstand advertising "We don't have any more Charlie Hebdo". Charlie Hebdo's defiant new issue sold out before dawn around Paris, with scuffles at kiosks over dwindling copies of the paper Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo People wait to buy the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo newspaper at a newsstand in Rennes Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo People wait outside a newsagents in Paris Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo A sign which translates as "Charlie Hebdo - Sold Out - Next deliveries on Thursday, Friday and Saturday" is displayed at a newsagents in Strasbourg Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo The depiction of the Prophet Mohamed on the front cover has offended many Muslims AP Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo People wait outside a newsagents in Dunkirk for a copy of the magazine AFP Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo Members of the public queue at a newspaper kiosk, where copies of the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine are being sold in Paris Getty Charlie Hebdo: The first edition since the Paris massacre Charlie Hebdo The new edition of Charlie Hebdo is prepared for delivery at a press distribution center in the suburb of Marne La Valle in Paris

The cover features a weeping Mohamed holding a "je suis Charlie" sign under the words “all is forgiven.”

At the time of the shooting, the newspaper's editor was under police guard because of threats against him because of previous cartoons of the Prophet, which previously culminated in a firebomb attack in 2011.

Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi claimed they were "avenging the Prophet" when they massacred 12 people at its offices.