The villagers said they just wanted to be left alone. They claimed they had asked the Taliban to stay away, and wished the Americans would do the same.

But now the Americans were back, determined to stop the Taliban from passing through the village to attack U.S. targets. And shortly afterward the gunfire from the hills above served notice that the Taliban had no intention of leaving.

What unfolded Tuesday would highlight the tug of war being waged for the loyalties of one village in eastern Afghanistan.

The story had begun with a clinic, built here with U.S. funds to demonstrate to Afghans that they have more to gain from the Americans than from the Taliban.

Last spring the Taliban blew it up. But the Americans kept coming back. Their previous visit was three months ago, and now it was time to put in another appearance.

The platoon of a couple dozen soldiers, part of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, left their outpost before sunrise. They walked five kilometers (three miles) in a riverbed over sand and man-sized boulders to reach the heap of concrete and twisted iron that used to be the clinic. There they met the village elders, who escorted them to a large shade tree in the center of Qatar Kala.

The platoon commander, a 1.95 meter (6-foot-5) lieutenant named Thomas Goodman, sat among the villagers, took off his helmet and sunglasses and explained why they had come.

Anti-American fighters had been passing through Qatar Kala westward to attack U.S. outposts along the nearby Pech River, said Goodman.

"Unless this is stopped, you have to understand that you'll be getting regular visits from coalition forces," he said.

The elders were unswayed. "We ask you not to come here," one said. "It is better for us, and better for you."

The atmosphere was tense. An attack was expected. Back at the ruined clinic, the squad's Afghan translator had asked if this journalist had a mobile phone. "You should call your loved ones now to say that you care about them. I'm telling you, the walk home from here is not a joke," he said with a nervous smile.

As they left Qatar Kala, with U.S. helicopters buzzing overhead, Goodman split his men into two squads, one along the riverbed and one in an irrigation canal on higher ground.

About 500 yards outside the village gunfire whistled down from the eastern mountainside.

Soldiers dived stomach-down. The rushing canal water soaked boots and uniforms and jammed at least one weapon as soldiers got up to shoot back. Continued...