US choppers resume Pakistan relief efforts

US military resumed relief flights in northern Pakistan yesterday but would stay a "safe distance" from where one of its choppers allegedly came under attack as it ferried supplies to victims of the massive earthquake in divided Kashmir, a spokesman said.

In an account disputed by Pakistan's army, the US military reported that assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter around 1.45pm on Tuesday as it flew over Chakothi, near the Line of Control that separates the Pakistani and Indian portions of Kashmir.

"The aircraft was not hit and returned safely with its crew" to an air base near the capital, Captain Rob Newell, a spokesman for the US military relief effort, said.

Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said that he doubted any such attack took place, noting that some road-clearing engineers were blasting a road near where the helicopters were.

"The blast was huge enough to kick up dust which the pilot probably misunderstood as rocket fire," he said, adding that Pakistani army troops carried out a cordon and search operation and spoke to witnesses on the ground, none of whom reported a rocket attack.

Newell said the four US crew members, a Pakistani pilot and a freelance journalist on board at the time were not hurt. Newell said the US Army and the Pakistani government were investigating.

Some 24 US helicopters, mostly heavy-lifting Chinooks diverted from fighting Operation Enduring Freedom in neighboring Afghanistan, are helping Pakistan recover from the Oct. 8 quake, which is believed to have killed about 80,000 people and left millions homeless and desperately needing supplies before the harsh Himalayan winter closes in.

Kashmir -- one of two Pakistani regions hit hardest by the earthquake -- is a focus for Islamic militants seeking to gain independence from India, or a merger with Pakistan. While Pakistan denies that militants use its territory as a base, their presence is barely hidden.

Militants have been openly helping with quake relief effort on both sides of Kashmir.

A spokesman for one prominent militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed -- which is alleged to have links to al-Qaeda -- said it would not contemplate attacking any foreigners, including US citizens, who are helping survivors of quake.

"All those foreigners, including from the US, who are helping our people in the quake-hit areas are our honorable guests," spokesman Sahrai Baba said, adding, "we cannot even think of hurting them."

In a call to a local news agency, Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing on the outskirts of Indian Kashmir's main city yesterday, killing two policeman and three passers-by and wounding a dozen more. The bomber was also killed.

Commander Nick Balice, another US military spokesman, said relief flights had restarted yesterday after a delay of a couple of hours because of poor visibility. He said US helicopters would stay "a safe distance from the affected area" where the attack happened on Tuesday.