KABUL (Reuters) - Two protesters were shot and killed in Afghanistan’s east on Sunday, a district government official said, during angry demonstrations staged even though an obscure U.S. pastor abandoned plans to burn copies of the Koran.

The two who died were among seven wounded during clashes with Afghan security forces who tried to disperse protests in the Baraki Barak district of Logar province.

“Two wounded protesters died in hospital due to severe gunshot wounds,” Baraki Barak district chief Mohammad Rahim Amin told Reuters by telephone.