Death to America!': Angry Afghans Burn Christian Cross & Obama Effigy

It seems the chaos in Afghanistan over supposedly inadvertent Koran burnings is still unfolding. New video of civilian protests shows a cross being burned and anger running rampant. Of course, the problems in the region have only intensified after an American soldier allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians on Sunday. In response, the Taliban are pledging revenge and citizens are demanding justice.

Angry demonstrators chanted anti-American slogans and carried a red cross throughout the streets in the city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. Later, footage and pictures show this same cross and an Obama effigy being burned -- an apparent reaction to the burning of Korans in February at Bagram Air Field, a military base in Afghanistan and the aforementioned shooting.

"Death to America!" and "Death to the soldier who killed our civilians!," the crowd at a local university shouted. Some carried a banner that called for a public trial of the soldier, who U.S. officials have identified as a married, 38-year-old father of two who was trained as a sniper and recently suffered a head injury in Iraq.

The BBC has more about the response within the Middle Eastern country:

Private Tolo TV and Shamsad TV broadcast footage of angry protests by 600 students of Nangahar University, and private Channel One TV joined them in highlighting remarks by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta about the possibility of the death penalty for the soldier.

State TV concentrated on official Afghan and US reactions, with extensive and angry comments by members of the Afghan parliament.

The overall trend in the reporting and comment was a call for justice and the punishment of the soldier, as well as anyone else responsible for the killings.

Below, see footage of the cross burning:

There were other events going on as well that serve as a reaction to both the Koran burning and the shooting. The Associated Press reports:

The Taliban insurgents opened fire just as two brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai left a village mosque where a memorial service was being held for 16 villagers killed by a U.S. soldier who went on a shooting rampage.

Qayum and Shah Walid Karzai and other top Afghan officials in their delegation escaped in their cars unharmed from the Tuesday ambush in the country's south.

But one Afghan soldier was hit in the head almost immediately and died, while two other Afghan army personnel were wounded in the 20-minute firefight that ensued in one of the two villages in Kandahar province where the killings had occurred two days before.

With all of these events unfolding, U.S. leaders are said to be considering a potential expedited troop drawdown. This isn't surprising, considering that decreasing support in America for operations in Afghanistan and angst among civilians there may hamper the U.S.'s operations moving forward.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story has been updated.