US troops provoke anger, fear in Afghan villages

SHER-O-ABA, Afghanistan, Aug 15 (Reuters) - When U.S. forces entered a remote Afghan village recently to hunt Taliban and al Qaeda rebels, locals hurriedly hid their Korans in a sack.

Baffled soldiers who discovered the copies of Islam's holy book asked an elder what was happening. He told them that villagers feared they would be killed merely for being Muslims.

The misunderstanding underlines the depth of confusion and mistrust caused by foreign troops in Afghanistan, particularly in rural areas in the south and east where the coalition is most active in its hunt for "terrorists".

In many cases that mistrust has turned to hatred, as aggressive search tactics and a general sense among Muslims of being under siege plays into the hands of the very people the U.S. military is trying to wipe out.

"On the slightest suspicion they arrest us and treat us like animals," said Haji Allah Dad, a 50-year-old resident of Sher-o-Aba, a village six km (four miles) east of the town of Spin Boldak on the border with Pakistan.

"Their treatment is so inhuman that sometimes we even think of joining the 'jihad' (holy war) of the Taliban against them."

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