Burqa-clad women marched through Srinagar [Images], burning the American flag and copies of the US constitution, as schools and offices closed to protest US soldiers' alleged desecration of the Quran.

"The defilement of our holy book is outrageous because we consider it to be the word of God," thundered Asiya Andrabi, head of the women's group Dukhtaran-e-Millat, (Daughters of the Community).

About 50 people turned out for the rally in central Srinagar, but demonstrations were expected to increase in the state.

Almost all of Kashmir's religious and separatist groups backed Friday's general strike to protest the alleged desecration. Schools and offices were closed across the Kashmir Valley, and vehicles stayed off roads.

"Guantanamo Bay is a cage. It is not a prison," Andrabi said, only her eyes visible through her veil. "This is a token protest. The infidels are routinely insulting Muslims and their symbols. We are just expressing our hatred."

US officials have substantiated five cases in which military guards or interrogators mishandled the Quran at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but found "no credible evidence" to confirm a prisoner's report that one of the holy books was flushed in a toilet, the prison's commander has said.