MEIVAND, Afghanistan -- The raid of a local police station by Afghan soldiers and U.S. Special Forces has fired emotions in this southwestern town, with provincial officials saying the 170 men arrested were renegades, while residents said they worked for the new government.

About 300 Afghan soldiers and militiamen, along with a handful of American troops, raided the police station on Wednesday morning and captured the surprised police officers without a fight.

Provincial government spokesman Khaled Pashtoon said Saturday the men were followers of Haji Bashir, a pro-Taliban drug-dealer, and had refused orders to move into the city or arrest wanted men.

The U.S. military would not comment on the raid.

Pashtoon said that even though the men were perceived as a threat to the new government, they would probably be released after being disarmed and interrogated.

Residents shocked

But residents of this small town, 30 miles west of Kandahar, expressed shock Friday over the arrests of police officers they said were working for the transitional government of President Hamid Karzai.

"We are very surprised by what happened. These people were part of the government. The government paid for their salaries and food. I don't understand how they could do this," said Commander Sakzai, the head of a nearby police station.

"When I moved here two months ago, these guys were working at the police station, patrolling the streets, same as us."

Over the past nine months, Afghan and U.S. authorities have arrested hundreds of people in the continuing search for al-Qaida and Taliban members following the collapse of the fundamentalist Islamic militia's rule last year.

However, these raids are stirring up increasing resentment among civilians, who say that many of those being detained have no current links with the Islamic extremist movement. They say people are being turned in by unscrupulous informants with personal grudges or tribal scores to settle.

Last week, U.S. troops arrested a dozen people in eastern Kunar province, including senior tribal leaders, prompting an angry outcry. Two of those detained have been released.

The Laiwa police garrison -- site of the latest raid -- was deserted Friday except for a handful of men.

The rooms in the garrison had been thoroughly searched. The wooden doors to an alcove in the mud brick walls where the weapons had been stored had been torn down. Metal trunks and wooden boxes had their locks split open. Woven mats and blankets were thrown about while half-eaten food and a tea kettle remained.

A couple of boxes of anti-aircraft bullets remained, as well as several fuses for bombs. A box of respiratory filters for toxic dust were also found.

Toting his Kalashnikov rifle, the new police chief Lalai, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said he was appointed by Kandahar's intelligence head Haji Gulalai shortly after Wednesday's raid.

Lalai said he saw the police officers rounded up, their hands tied behind their backs, as some 300 to 400 Afghan soldiers surrounded them. There were also about 15 Americans in the group, he said. Some 400 weapons and rounds of ammunition were also confiscated from the police station.

Caught by surprise, none of the policemen resisted. A handful of men escaped through a small hole in the wall of the police station.

But one of the town's shopkeepers said the Afghan forces had trotted the prisoners out into the main street and beaten them with their guns.

"They beat these men very badly in front of all the people. I think they broke one man's arm. We are very angry about this," he said.

Though they were clearly nervous and reluctant to talk, others expressed dismay that the Afghan government was turning on its own forces. "If they are doing this to their own people, then there's no guarantee they won't come after regular people. No one is safe from this," said storeowner Amanullah.