Dawn raids stoke fires of resentment

It was night when the American military helicopters landed in the dry cornfields around the village of Aab Khiel. Within minutes dozens of soldiers surrounded the small cluster of mud and brick homes, and the house-to-house search began.
"When they came to my house they didn't knock on the door, they just forced their way in," said Qarimullah, 28, a young farmer in the village, recalling last week's raid. "They broke the locks on the doors and our safe boxes. They took my camera and they threw all our clothes on the floor. They said they were looking for al-Qaida but why did they come into our houses like this? This is not right."

When America began Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan a year ago it was largely welcomed. At last the west was promising to bring peace and reconstruction to a country run by warlords and ravaged by drought and 20 years of conflict.

But slowly Afghans have grown resentful of the thousands of US troops. The bitterness is especially deep in the southern Pashtun tribal lands, where the Stars and Stripes flies above isolated and heavily fortified bases in areas that were once the Taliban's heartland. Many Afghans, including powerful commanders, want them out.

Complaints of US army patrols becoming heavy handed in the past month have come from several villages in the south-east, particularly around the towns of Khost and Gardez. They say the soldiers have confiscated satellite telephones, passports, house and car documents and even family photographs.

No one was arrested Aab Khiel last week and no trace of al-Qaida was found. The operation succeeded only in turning the village solidly against the US military presence.