U.S. Disputes Report of Attack in Afghanistan

Afghan officials said Thursday that a U.S. helicopter attacked a village 75 miles south of Kabul, killing a civilian and wounding two others, but the U.S. military denied the report.

Abdul Matin Hassankhail, commander of Afghan forces in Zormat, just south of Gardez, said a U.S. helicopter hit the nearby village of Khomi Baghicha with a bomb or a rocket. Faiz Mohammed, secretary to Paktia province Gov. Raz Mohammed Dalili, said an unidentified man was killed and two others were slightly hurt.

The secretary said the attack was prompted by “a wrong report to the Americans.” He suggested that someone involved in a feud had falsely reported that Taliban or Al Qaeda forces were in the area, in order to draw American fire.

But at Bagram air base north of Kabul, the capital, headquarters of U.S.-led coalition forces, military spokeswoman Christa D’Andrea denied that such an incident occurred.

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

At the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said there were no U.S. helicopters in the air at the time of the reported attack.