Afghan villagers protest alleged U.S. helicopter attack

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of people marched on a provincial center Saturday to protest what they said was a U.S. helicopter attack that killed one Afghan and the U.S. military's detention of five others from the same village, local officials reported.

The U.S. command in Afghanistan has denied the helicopter attack took place, but has said five men were detained around that time in that area, about 75 miles south of Kabul.

About 500 people traveled 20 miles from the Zormat district of Paktia province to the provincial capital, Gardez, to protest outside the governor's building, said Abdul Matin Husainkhil, commander of Afghan forces in Zormat.

"They demanded the release of innocent people arrested recently by the Americans," said Matin.

The protest highlighted the increasing resentment of the U.S. military presence in recent weeks, especially after a July 1 U.S. airstrike that Afghan officials say killed 48 civilians, many of them attending a wedding party.

Local Afghan officials said a U.S. helicopter on Wednesday night fired three rockets into a house in the village of Khomi Baghicha in Zormat district, killing one man and wounding two others.

Americans entered the village afterward, found eight automatic rifles at the house and took five men from the site, said Afghan officials, who said at the time they didn't know the five detainees' identities or possible affiliations.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. command in Bagram, Capt. Christa D'Andrea, denied any "bombing" or Afghan casualties in that area. Earlier Thursday, the U.S. command did report that special operations troops had taken five men into custody southwest of Gardez.

Local Afghan officials said there were no Taliban or al-Qaida targets in the village area involved in Wednesday night's action.

The officials were particularly upset because, they said, the Americans had promised to check with local authorities before launching such attacks, but had failed to do so in this case.