KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - In one raid, U.S. forces storm a home and arrest the owner, only to release him hours later. In another, soldiers tie women suspects' hands, breaking a strict local taboo against touching a woman.
While many people in southern Afghanistan have welcomed the presence of U.S. forces for bringing relative peace and stability, anger is rising at what some people claim are clumsy and culturally inappropriate tactics the Americans are using to weed out al-Qaida and Taliban suspects.
A series of raids by U.S.-led coalition forces and their superficial knowledge of Afghan culture has led to increased resentment of the foreigners, some residents say.
The methods have also opened the Americans up to claims they are being manipulated by local informants out to settle old scores, and the perception that they are interfering in local politics.
Resentment has been simmering for months, but open expression of that resentment began increasing in late May. Usually taciturn Afghans have begun speaking out against U.S. troops in traditional tea houses known as samovars.
Sometimes, the hostility is more subtle, noticed only in the glances directed at the handful of Americans - mostly special forces and journalists - on Kandahar's streets.
"The Americans are making mistakes, they should take notice," said Mohammed Naeem, 38. "They are receiving disinformation from people who have personal grudges or other reasons. They go raid and people get killed because they are pointed out as al-Qaida or Taliban."
Naeem said his brother, Haji Nangyali, 35, was arrested June 4 by U.S. special forces and local police who raided his Kandahar home.
Later the same day, Nangyali was released by the Americans, only to be arrested one day later by Afghan intelligence officers in Kandahar. He remains in jail.
"Most people have blamed the Americans for this, even if they released him," Naeem said. "Everyone in Kandahar knows about this raid and they are angry. Many have come to my home to pay their respects."
Kandahar is nominally under the control of President Hamid Karzai's new government. But like many parts of Afghanistan, local warlords retain strong influence and tribal resentments often lead to tension and confrontation.
The city was the base of the hardline Taliban regime that was ousted by U.S.-led forces for its support of the al-Qaida terrorist group. It is the capital of Afghanistan's south, which is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns from which the Taliban drew its core.
U.S. troops or facilities supporting the Americans have been targeted four times this month, including a failed June 4 attack in which six rockets were aimed at the airport base of about 5,000 U.S.-led coalition soldiers. No one has been injured in the attacks.
On June 16, two bombs exploded under Pakistani tanker trucks used to supply gasoline to U.S. troops at Kandahar base. A bomb exploded June 1 outside the palace of provincial governor Gul Agha. That bomb was planted along a road normally used by U.S. special forces staying at his compound. U.S. Army reservists involved in humanitarian projects also work there.
Naeem and others said anger at American forces began growing after a May 24 raid by U.S. Army troops and special forces in the village of Band Taimore.
During that raid, a respected tribal leader in his 80s was reportedly shot dead in a mosque and a 3-year-old girl drowned hiding in a well.
Worse still was a report that troops had bound the hands of women. Touching women is considered a deadly insult in southern Afghanistan.
"This was a turning point, especially because of what they did to the women," Naeem said.
Naeem, who said he was a guerrilla fighter against invading Russian troops during the 1980s, remains a fervent supporter of America because of its support for the Afghan fighters against Russia.
But the "Americans are following the footsteps of Russians," Naeem said, and risked a backlash.
"People think we rose up against the Russians to protect our religion, but it was not religion. We stood up to protect our culture," Naeem said.
Mohammad Shafiq, a 28-year-old student, agreed that the United States must tread carefully to avoid creating resentment.
"Staying in Afghanistan for Americans is not easy," he said. "They must pass through many processes and do so very carefully, not to make the same mistakes as the Russians."
Less than one week after the Band Taimore raid, amid street demonstrations demanding the captives' release, U.S. officials freed 50 of the seized villagers, keeping five. U.S. officials said at least one has been identified as a Taliban official, though he was "below the senior level."
Around the same time, Kandahar government officials and U.S. forces agreed they needed to work more closely to avoid mistaken raids and damaging the image of the coalition.
"These things create a problem for the administration and the image of the coalition. There has to be more coordination with the government to avoid this type of thing," said Kandahar government spokesman Yusuf Pashtoon.
The U.S. Army has since advised troops not to touch Afghan women.
"You can't lay your hands on the women," Lt. Col. Patrick Fetterman told troops from the 101st Airborne Division before a June 10 combat mission near Pakistan. "I don't want you laying your hands on women."
Other raids in the south have also raised local anger, including a Jan. 23 attack at a school in Khas Uruzgan in which 21 pro-government Afghans died and a raid in March at Sangesar that resulted in the arrest, and later release, of 31 anti-Taliban militiamen.
On May 13, U.S. special operations forces killed five people and detained 32 during a raid in the village of Char Chine, north of Kandahar. Villagers say the five were farmers.
"Everybody is happy that U.S. Army is here because the people of Afghanistan can't trust to their leaders and commanders," said Asif Jahn, 55, a civil servant. "But it is necessary that they be careful in the future."