U.S.-Led Raid Kills Two Afghan Civilians

Protesters block a highway in Nangahar province, Afghanistan, after a coalition raid on a suspected insurgent cell left a woman and a teenage girl dead. (By Rahmat Gul -- Associated Press)

KABUL, April 29 -- A U.S.-led raid Sunday on a suspected insurgent cell in the eastern province of Nangahar left as many as six Afghans dead, including a woman and a teenage girl, and sparked protests by hundreds of angry Afghans chanting, "Death to Bush!"

U.S. officials said four insurgents were among the dead, but it was the civilian deaths that infuriated the protesters, who carried five bodies to a main highway and blocked traffic with felled trees. The bodies of the woman and girl were entirely covered by sheets, while the men's faces were exposed.

"Their operation was based on incorrect reports, and they carried out a cruel attack on these houses," Akhtar Mohammad, a resident, said at the protest. "We are not the enemy. We are not al-Qaeda. Why are they attacking us?"

Afghan officials have repeatedly pleaded with the United States and NATO to take care during operations that might harm civilians, and the latest violence could deepen distrust among Afghans, whose support for international forces and the shaky U.S.-backed government is waning.

"It is extremely unfortunate that militants put others' lives in danger by hiding among their families," said U.S. Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman.

The protest was held on the same highway where U.S. Marines, fleeing after their convoy was hit by a suicide car bomber March 4, fired indiscriminately on vehicles and pedestrians, killing 12 people.

Abdul Mohammad, a Nangahar police investigator, said the operation early Sunday in the Bati Kot district left five civilians dead, including two women. The differing figures could not immediately be reconciled, and it could not be verified whether the dead men were insurgents.

The protesters focused their anger on President Bush and his Afghan counterpart, President Hamid Karzai, as well as the governor of Nangahar.

Acting on a tip indicating that the cell was planning three suicide car bombings against coalition forces in the coming weeks, coalition and Afghan forces jointly raided the compound, a coalition statement said.

After being fired upon, the coalition forces returned fire, killing four militants, an adult woman and a teenage girl, the statement said. A child and a teenage girl who were wounded during the gunfight were being treated at a coalition facility.