Civilian dies in 'US air strike' on Afghan village

AFGHAN officials yesterday said a US helicopter attack on a village 75 miles south of Kabul killed one civilian and wounded two others. The US military denied the report.

The Afghans said there were no Taliban or al-Qaida targets in the area that was hit by the Americans late on Wednesday.

They also said the US military had promised to check with local authorities before launching such attacks, but failed to do so in this case.

At Bagram air base, headquarters of US-led coalition forces, a military spokeswoman, Capt Christa D'Andrea, denied such an incident occurred.

"There was no bombing, there have been none injured or killed," she said. "The information is incorrect."

Afghans insisted that the Americans had fired on the village of Khomi Baghicha, four miles southwest of Zormat, in southeastern Afghanistan's Paktia province.

"I don't know whether it was a bomb or a rocket, but last night around nine o'clock an American helicopter fired on the village," said Abdul Matin Husainkhil, commander of Afghan forces in Zormat.

The area was the scene of a major US operation against Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts in March.

The victim was an unidentified man, said Faiz Mohammad, the secretary to Raz Mohammad Dalili, Paktia governor.

Husainkhil said the two wounded were not seriously hurt and were recovering at home.

Mohammad said the attack was prompted by "a wrong report to the Americans". He suggested that someone involved in a local feud had falsely reported Taliban or al-Qaida in the targeted location to draw American fire.

He said the provincial council, or shura, had previously been told by Americans whom he did not identify that they would check with local authorities before any bombing in the area.

"I don't know why they didn't say anything to the shura or governor before doing this," said Faiz Mohammad.

He said the governor has sent a four-man delegation to the village to investigate the incident.

The US military has killed scores of innocent Afghans as it continues its hunt for remnants of the Taliban movement and al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan.

An air attack in the central province of Uruzgan on July 1, in which Afghan officials said 48 civilians were killed, led Afghan authorities to demand more local clearance of US military operations.