Copter faced fire in quake area, US says

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Assailants fired at a US military helicopter yesterday as it ferried supplies to earthquake victims in Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir, the US military said. US officials vowed to continue the assistance flights in the region.

The attack appeared to have involved a rocket-propelled grenade, fired as the CH-47 Chinook flew over Chakothi, a quake-ravaged town near the frontier separating the Pakistani and Indian portions of the Himalayan region, said Captain Rob Newell, a spokesman for the US military relief effort.

''The aircraft was not hit and returned safely with its crew" to a base near the capital, Islamabad, he said.

The Pakistani Army spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, expressed skepticism that an attack had taken place, saying engineers were using explosives to clear a road near the spot.

He also said that Pakistani soldiers had searched the area after the reported attack and that witnesses on the ground did not see a rocket attack.

A US military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject to Pakistan-US relations, said the crew member who reported the attack had just served in Afghanistan for months and could recognize a fired rocket-propelled grenade.

Kashmir, among the areas hit hardest by the quake Oct. 8, is a focus of separatists fighting in India's part of the region.

While most Pakistanis have expressed gratitude for US help since the quake, some question their intentions.