US operation sparks Afghan unrest

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Kabul

The east Afghan region of Nangahar has seen violent protests after US forces raided a house, killing three people, arresting nine and seizing arms.

The US-led coalition said they had come under attack after targeting a "foreign fighter network".

But local people said they were civilians and they blocked the main road to the Pakistani border.

Police opened fire and a number of demonstrators are reported to have been killed or injured.

Protesters blocking the main road to Pakistan carried the bodies of the three men killed.

Police who came to break up the five-hour demonstration say they shot into the air as a warning but the head of Nangahar provincial council says they fired into the crowd, killing two people and injuring a number of others.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said the government was investigating the villagers' claims that civilians had been killed in the raid by US forces operating outside of Nato.

There are often differing accounts of operations against suspected militants by international troops and it is impossible to independently verify claims.

Civilian casualties are a contentious issue across Afghanistan.

International forces have been criticised by President Hamid Karzai for not being careful enough but Nato claims to have reduced the number of civilians killed in fighting with insurgents.