The latest civilian deaths occurred in the same area of eastern Nangarhar province where a US Marines convoy, fleeing after being hit by a suicide car bomb on March 4, opened fire on vehicles and pedestrians, killing 12 people.

Abdul Mohammad, a Nangarhar police investigator, said the operation early Sunday left five civilians dead, including two women.

He said villagers had taken the bodies to the main highway and blocked the road in an angry hourslong protest. They lashed out at President Bush and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, as well as the governor of Nangarhar.

Coalition and Afghan forces jointly raided a compound in the Bati Kot area of Nangarhar province, the coalition statement said, acting on a tip indicating that the cell was planning three suicide car bomb attacks against coalition forces in the coming weeks.

The coalition said that after being fired upon, the coalition forces returned fire, killing four militants, an adult woman and a teenage girl. Another child and teenage girl were wounded during the gunfight and were being treated at a coalition facility.

Coalition forces found multiple several guns and bomb-making materials, and detained one man from the compound for questioning.

"It is extremely unfortunate that militants put others' lives in danger by hiding among their families," said Maj Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman.

The coalition said it arrested four other suspects and discovered more bomb-making materials at another compound raided early Sunday, also in Bati Kot.

Mohammad, the Nangarhar director of police criminal investigations, said the operation targeted three houses and that six people were arrested.