Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah (R) had a joint press conference with U.S. General Dan McNeill in Kabul on July, 6, and promised a probe into the air attack. PHOTO - REUTERS

KABUL/BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Dozens of Afghan women clad in blue burqas staged an unprecedented protest last Thursday against an American air attack on a remote Afghan village believed to have killed 40 people attending a wedding. The American military continued to defend the deadly air attack, saying it believed senior Taliban leaders were sheltering in the village and that its planes had received anti-aircraft fire from several locations close to the houses. But analysts said mounting anger about the civilian casualties could undermine the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, and complicate American efforts to track down Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives in the country.

The women who gathered outside United Nations headquarters in Kabul were careful to say they were not asking the Americans to leave Afghanistan, nor were they supporters of the Taliban — they were merely expressing sympathy and anger.

The U.S. military played a leading role in the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban last year, something that was welcomed by millions of Afghans. But as special forces comb the country for fugitive Taliban leaders or their al Qaeda allies, there have been some civilian casualties. Experts say Karzai‘s government will have to deal with a lot of anti-American feeling as a result of the tragedy, especially from the proud Pashtuns of southern and eastern Afghanistan. Although Karzai has not condemned the attack in person, he has asked the Americans to inform Afghan authorities about future operations, something the U.S. military may be reluctant to do. But Rashid said the ability of the Taliban to exploit the anger should not be exaggerated, since they no longer appear to represent an organised political force in Afghanistan, even in their former Pashtun heartland. People may be angry with Americans, he said, but that does not mean they support the Taliban.

U.S. military investigators travelled to the bombed village in the rugged province of Uruzgan on Wednesday, also interviewing the commander of the U.S. special operations team that called in the airstrikes. U.S. Major Gary Tallman of the investigating team said American forces on the ground had reliable information from several sources that senior Taliban leaders were sheltering in the tiny village when the wedding party was attacked. He said a U.S. special forces team had surveyed the area at least four times in the past two weeks, and each time planes had been fired on by anti-aircraft guns.

On Sunday night, U.S. troops were positioning to surround and search the village when they saw more anti-aircraft fire. Afghans maintain the villagers were merely firing in the air to celebrate the wedding of the son and daughter of two tribal elders, with 500 guests assembled for a five-day party.

Survivors, among them young girls and old women, have told of the carnage as their party was shattered by a hail of metal from at least two gunships. At Bagram air base, staging post for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, U.S. army spokesman Colonel Roger King said Afghans were talking of 40 to 44 dead and about 130 wounded „but we haven‘t seen anything that would verify that“. Muslims bury their dead as soon as possible.

Reuters