Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The deadly protests in northern Afghanistan over a Quran burning spread to the country's war-torn southern region on Saturday, with provincial government officials reporting at least nine civilians dead and dozens injured. The violence struck the city of Kandahar when demonstrators took to the streets to protest the torching of Islam's most sacred book by a U.S. church. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - At least 10 people have been killed and 83 wounded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, officials said on Saturday, on a second day of violent protests over the burning of a Koran by a radical fundamentalist Christian in the United States. The Taliban said they had no role in the Kandahar violence or Friday's assault on the U.N. office in the usually peaceful city of Mazar-i-Sharif, after both provincial governors and a senior U.N. official suggested an insurgent role. The spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province said the protest was organized by the Taliban who used the Koran burning as an excuse to incite violence in a city where their reach has been curtailed by an aggressive NATO-led military campaign. The pastor's "Judge the Quran day" drew widespread international condemnation The Taliban said they had no role in Friday's assault on the UN office, after both the provincial governor and a senior UN official suggested provocateurs among the crowd had sparked or led the vicious attack. Some witnesses in Kandahar said protesters were shot by police. SOME SHOT, SOME BEATEN 
 
 In Kandahar, one of the policemen killed and several civilians died from gunshot wounds, said Abdul Qayum Pukhla, the senior health official for the province. "There (was) gunfire into the air in order to bring the people under control, and luckily not one has been killed as a result of the gunfire," said Zemarai Bashari, spokesman for the interior ministry. "The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by phone from an undisclosed location of the Mazar attack. "It was the Afghan police that killed the innocent people of Kandahar while they were expressing their feeling against the burning of holy Quran in Florida." Sapp called the deaths in Mazar-i-Sharif "tragic," but said he did not regret the actions of his church. Afghan officials said at least 11 people were killed, including seven UN staff. There they overwhelmed security guards, burned parts of the compound and climbed blast walls to topple a guard tower. It was not clear if gunshot wounds were caused by protesters or police trying to control them over hours of rioting. "I in no way feel like our church is responsible for what happened," he said. Gunfire broke out, and "I saw protesters shot to death," he said 
 
 A student in Mazar-e-Sharif said he and his friends joined the protesters, who numbered in the hundreds. UN office attacked A day earlier, after Friday prayers ended, protesters overwhelmed security guards at the UN office in the usually peaceful northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
– Pastor Terry Jones' Koran-burning stunt continues to reverberate across the world. At least eight people were killed in a riot in Kandahar today while protesting Jones' actions last month, reports al-Jazeera and CNN. The unrest follows the death of a dozen people yesterday, including seven UN workers, during a riot in the normally peaceful northern town of Mazar-e Sharif. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Kandahar, clashed with police, and set fire to shops. About 70 were injured. Afghan officials say the Taliban infiltrated otherwise peaceful protests in both cities to incite violence, but the group denies it, notes Reuters. "The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims," said a spokesman. "The foreigners brought the wrath of the Afghans on themselves by burning the Koran."