GARDEZ, Afghanistan ? Nearly a week into a U.S.-led offensive on al-Qaida positions in eastern Afghanistan, the local intelligence service launched a campaign of its own Wednesday  a $4,000 reward for the capture of any al-Qaida warrior.

The offer came a day after several U.S. Special Forces met for nearly five hours in Gardez with the intelligence unit for Paktia, the eastern Afghan province where the fighting is taking place.

Intelligence officers refused to say whether the meeting was linked to the reward or whether the United States would pay it.

Washington already has a $25 million reward offer out for the capture of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader the United States believes was behind the Sept. 11 assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Allied Afghan soldiers in vehicles equipped with loudspeakers announced the reward Wednesday in Gardez, the provincial capital. The city is about 30 miles north of Shah-e-Kot, where the United States is leading its largest offensive against al-Qaida hide-outs in snow-drenched mountains.

The soldiers urged people to turn in al-Qaida warriors, who they said were “terrorists” and “enemies of your freedom.”

“We are telling people we will give them 150 million Afghanis ($4,000) for any foreign fighter, al-Qaida, they capture alive,” deputy intelligence chief Ziarat Gul told The Associated Press.

They also distributed leaflets resembling oversized Afghani notes emblazoned with the figure of 150 million Afghanis on the front and bearing this message on the back:

“Dear countrymen: The al-Qaida terrorists are our enemy. They are the enemy of your independence and freedom. Come on. Let us find their most secret hiding places. Search them out and inform the intelligence service of the province and get the big prize.”

The provincial government also was planning a rally in Gardez to urge Afghans to turn away from the al-Qaida.

The reward offer comes amid growing resentment among some Afghans in this region to the relentless bombing raids on the mountains. An attack on Monday on a Canadian journalists in Surmad, near the site of the offensive, was seen as a warning to Westerners in Afghanistan.

Over the weekend, U.S. aircraft dropped leaflets of their own on the plains near the Shah-e-Kot range, warning al-Qaida and Taliban fighters their days were numbered and urging residents to cooperate in the war against them.

“Hand over Taliban and al-Qaida or you will be destroyed. Come forward with information about Taliban and al-Qaida,” the American leaflets said.