The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned the assassination of a former host of a controversial Afghan television music show.

With the situation “calmed” in Jalalabad after last week’s violent demonstrations and attacks on United Nations offices, the UN mission in Afghanistan today said it is sending back to the city a core group of essential international staff.

Condemning the violent protests that have rocked the southern city of Jalalabad for the past two days, the head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan today vowed that the street fighting and attacks Wednesday on the mission’s offices will not diminish the UN’s commitment to the Afghan people.

A student demonstration in Afghanistan's south turned violent, with demonstrators throwing stones and, at one point, tossing an explosive device into the United Nations compound and setting fire to a guard post outside the building, the UN mission there reported today.