KABUL, Afghanistan — Military officials said Wednesday that it appeared that the Chinook helicopter that crashed on Tuesday in Afghanistan was brought down by hostile fire as it was landing during combat in a mountainous border area.
Many or all aboard are likely to have perished, a Pentagon official said, although search-and-rescue operations are continuing.
The apparent downing of the helicopter with 17 Americans aboard in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday comes at a time of growing insecurity here. For the first time since the United States overthrew the Taliban government 3 1/2 years ago, Afghans say they are feeling uneasy about the future.
The helicopter, carrying reinforcements, probably was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a congressional hearing.
The helicopter was carrying 17 personnel, including eight Navy SEAL commandos and other special-operations troops, members of a quick-reaction force that had been sent after radio calls from troops on the ground said that they were in combat with insurgents, according to another military official in Washington.
Violence has increased sharply in recent months, with a resurgent Taliban movement mounting daily attacks in southern Afghanistan, gangs kidnapping foreigners here in the capital, and radical Islamists orchestrating violent demonstrations against the government and foreign-financed organizations.
The steady stream of violence has dealt a new blow to this still-traumatized nation of 25 million. In dozens of interviews conducted in recent weeks around the country, Afghans voiced concern that the situation was not improving, and that the Taliban and other dangerous elements were gaining strength.
They expressed increased dissatisfaction with their own government and the way the U.S. military is conducting its operations. They said they were suspicious of the Americans’ long-term intentions.
“Three years on, the people are still hoping that things are going to work out, but they have become suspicious about why the Americans came, and why the Americans are treating the local people badly,” said Jandad Spinghar, head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in Nangarhar province in the east, just across the Khyber Pass from Pakistan.
Poverty, joblessness, frustrated expectations and the culture of 25 years of war make for a volatile mix in which American military raids, shootings and detention of Afghans can inflame public opinion, many here say.
“Generally, people are not against the Americans,” Spinghar said. “But in areas where there are no human rights, where they do not have good relations and where there is bad treatment of villagers or prisoners, this will hand a free area to the Taliban. It’s very important that the Americans understand how the Afghan people feel.”
Reflecting the shifting popular mood, President Hamid Karzai has publicly criticized the behavior of American troops.
The Taliban’s spring offensive has jolted both the U.S. military and the Karzai government, which had been saying that the Taliban were largely defeated and that Afghanistan was consolidating behind its first elected national leader.
“We were wrong,” a senior Afghan government official acknowledged, saying of the Taliban, “It seems they were spending the time preparing.” He insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject within the government.
Since March, insurgents have engaged in large-scale firefights with U.S. and Afghan forces in their traditional mountain hold-outs, as well as increased terrorist attacks such as roadside bombs, suicide attacks and political assassinations.
Although the government blames the Taliban — and its Pakistani and al-Qaeda backers — for the violence, the American military is frequently blamed by Afghans for drawing militant Islamic fighters to the country and then failing to control them.
“The Americans are the cause of the insecurity,” said Abdullah Mahmud, 26, a law student in Kabul. “If they were not here, there would not be any insecurity. The money they are spending on military expenses — if they spent half of it on the Afghan army and police and raised their skills, then there would not be any security questions.”
Opponents of the government are calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops and international aid organizations from Afghanistan, a call that has resonated with Afghans’ spirit of independence. The government, though, is anxiously seeking assurances that the foreign troops will stay and that assistance will continue, supporting it through this latest wave of difficulties.
Sayed Asadullah Hashimi, an assistant professor at Kabul University’s School of Islamic Law, said: “Outside Kabul, two-thirds of the people think that the Americans came only to invade and occupy Afghanistan, and that is why day by day the tension is growing. The mood is worsening.”
With parliamentary elections approaching in September, the issue of the American military presence is already emerging at the forefront of political debate. Foreign diplomats are forecasting that the election will deliver a parliament divided along ethnic lines and largely anti-Karzai, with a strong Islamist element.
Karzai will have to change his Cabinet, now largely made up of technocrats, to reflect the makeup of a new Parliament, said one diplomat, who asked not to be identified because of the political nature of his comments.
