KABUL: An Afghan woman was beaten to death and her body was set on fire by a mob in Kabul on Thursday for allegedly burning a copy of the Quran, police officials said.

“A woman burned a copy of the Quran in the Shahi Doshamshira neighbourhood,” the head of Kabul's criminal police General Farid Afzali told AFP.

The woman's body was then thrown into the Kabul River, Afzali added.

The police were trying to disperse the angry crowd of “thousands of people “who had gathered in the densely populated neighbourhood, he said.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi also confirmed the incident, saying a probe into the “very unfortunate” event was underway.

Photos of the attack were circulating on social media late Thursday.

In November 2014, Pakistani police arrested dozens of people after a mob beat a Christian couple to death and burned their bodies for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran.

Local media had reported the couple was accused of burning a copy of the Holy Quran and throwing it in a rubbish bin in Punjab on Tuesday. Police said their bodies were set on fire in a brick kiln.

“We have arrested 44 people, it was a local issue incited by the mullah of a local mosque,” Jawad Qamar, a regional police chief said. “No particular sectarian group or religious outfit was behind the attack.”

The incident took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres of Lahore.

In 2012, the revelation that copies of the Quran had been burnt at the US-run Bagram prison sparked five days of violent anti-US riots and attacks across the country, which killed 30 people.