12 News KBMT and K-JAC. News, Weather and Sports for SE TexasFort Hood Soldiers React to Riots in Afghanistan

The death toll rises in Afghanistan as riots continue.

That's after the burning of Qurans and other religious texts at a U.S. military base there on Tuesday.

So far two American soldiers and at least 13 Afghan civilians have been killed.

On Fort Hood some soldiers are worried it will provoke more attacks from extremists, and other's are say it might undo some of the progress that's been made over there.

A fourth day of violence continues in Afghanistan, after what the Defense Department calls an unintentional burning of Qurans at Bagram Airbase.

WO1 Arnold Pearson is back at Fort Hood after serving in Afghanistan.

He says whether this will undermine progress will depend on how Afghan officials react.

"If they're looking for an excuse to have the U.S. take a step back or get out of the country, then they'll use it in that way, but if they want to proceed forward and continue to receive our assistance, then they'll be able to move past this," said Warrant Officer Pearson.

Officials say soldiers only intended to burn materials taken from detainees at the base suspected of containing extremist messages, but some Qurans were accidentally mixed in.

Still, outraged Afghans are protesting.

The Taliban is claiming responsibility for yesterdays attack on a U.S. airbase that killed two American soldiers.

Some worry this is only the beginning.

"It definitely seems like it could be fuel for extremists to retaliate," said SPC Stoffregen.

"Anytime you have an incident like that, it becomes fodder, and they can spin that sort of things," said Warrant Officer Pearson.

President Obama and the pentagon apologized for the burnings.

"We at the Department of Defense regret and apologize for this incident. We are fully investigating it. We are learning from it. And we are committed to ensuring that such an incident will never happen again," said Peter Lavoy, acting defense secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security Affairs.

Warrant Officer Pearson says moving forward on both sides is key to continuing the mission of restoring power to the Afghan government.

"I hope that all concerned can move beyond it. If we're to make progress then that's what's going to have to happen," he said.

He also said soldiers do receive a great deal of training designed to sensitize them to Islamic customs before deploying.

There are also some who say the President never should have apologized at all.

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich criticized him for not demanding an apology for the two U.S. soldiers who were killed.

Reporter: Sophia Stamas sstamas@kcentv.com

Photographer: Chris Buford