Angry Afghans say US kills civilians, US denies it

Three Afghan civilians were killed and two wounded in a pre-dawn swoop by US helicopter gunships in Afghanistan's south-eastern province of Khost on Friday, angry villagers said.
But the US military challenged residents' version of events, saying it killed three suspected Islamic militants in "tactical raids" and detained 23 others. Four US soldiers were wounded in the firefight, but none seriously.
Khost's mayor, Jalil Ahmad Hasani, told Reuters that the air attack took place in the village of Tani, located some 160 km (100 miles) south-east of Kabul.
"The report we have indicates that three civilians, including two women, have been killed in the aerial bombardment and several others wounded," he said.
Villagers at the scene said no US patrol had been fired on, adding that Afghans had wrongly identified the house to the Americans as a hideout for al Qaeda or Taleban.
"The Americans acted on wrong information and bombed our village," said Ayoub, whose father was wounded. "We had a family feud and I think the Americans have taken the other side's word for it that Taleban and al Qaeda people were hiding here."
Residents confirmed that three people, including two women, were killed when their house came under fire from four helicopter gunships, and two people were wounded in the same neighbourhood.
They said US forces arrested 14 locals on suspicion of siding with the ousted Taleban and their al Qaeda allies.
Residents cleared away the rubble caused by the bombing; a two-storey mud house was riddled with shell marks.
They would be the first reported civilian deaths in a US air attack since January, when 11 Afghans, including four children, were killed in a US air raid on the village of Sawghataq, in the central province of Uruzgan.
In one of the most controversial incidents, 48 people died and 117 were wounded when US planes attacked a wedding party in the town of Deh Rawud, also in Uruzgan, in July 2002. The US military said a gunship had come under fire.
Afghans complain that the US military has acted on false intelligence and been caught up in local rivalries.
But the US military in Kabul denied any civilians had been killed.
"Coalition forces conducted tactical raids last night in the Khost Province in order to rid the area of suspected anti-coalition militia," it said in a statement.
"The raids resulted in 23 detainees and three enemy killed in action. The three deaths occurred after the ACMs (anti-coalition militia) fired on and wounded four US soldiers.