Around 100 people demonstrated in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday against the publishers of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, accusing them of blasphemy.

Many of the protesters carried banners emblazoned with a red heart and the name of the Prophet Muhammad, as they marched near the French Embassy.

Some in the crowd chanted "We love Muhammad."

Protest organiser Abdul Saboor Fakhri said the demonstrators want the Afghan government to close the French Embassy and expel the ambassador to ease the anger that he says Afghans feel toward the magazine.

"We are ready for any kind of sacrifices in defending our prophet and faith," he added.

There have been small, sporadic protests in Afghanistan since the publication of a special edition of Charlie Hebdo in the wake of an attack on the magazine's Paris office.

AP TELEVISION

Kabul - 22 January 2015

1. Protesters marching, holding posters and big banner reading (Dari) "Prophet Mohammad" and posters, reading: (Dari) "I Love Mohammad", chanting: (English/Dari) "We Love Mohammad"

2. Various of protesters marching with posters and chanting

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Reza Ahmadi, protester:

"All Muslim world are very unhappy about this action and strongly condemn this activity. We also are the members of the Islamic society, Islamic world, and we strongly condemn this act of the Charlie Hebdo French magazine."

4. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Abdul Saboor Fakhri, protest organiser:

"We are ready for any kind of sacrifices in defending our prophet and faith."

5. Various of protest

Several hundred Afghans burnt the French flag as they chanted "Death to France" at a rally in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Monday.

The protesters were demonstrating against the the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's latest publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, which devout Muslims deem an insult to Islam.

The protesters, mostly young Afghan men, also demanded the French Embassy in Kabul be shut down and that the French government apologise to Muslims.

It was the third straight day of protests across Afghanistan since the paper's first issue following the 7 January attack on its headquarters by Islamic extremists that killed 12 people.

AP TELEVISION

Jalalabad, Afghanistan - 19 January, 2015

1. Protesters chanting during protest, some holding Youth Solidarity Party flags and banners, UPSOUND (Pashto) "Death to France"

2. Protesters holding banners reading (Arabic and English): "I Love Muhammad"

3. Various of protesters marching with banners

4. Mid of protesters holding banners during protest

5. Protesters chanting anti-France slogans, UPSOUND (Pashto) "Death to France, Allah is the Greatest"

6. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Motiullah Ahmadzai, protester:

"We want an apology from France's government to the Muslim community. Otherwise we are asking our government and other Muslim countries to close French embassies."

7. Banner reading (Pashto): "We strongly condemn France's anti Islamic act"

8. Child holding banner reading (Arabic): "Muhammad"; bandana on his head reads (Arabic): "Prophet of Allah"

9. Protesters about to set French flag on fire

10. French flag in flames

11. Wide of protest