Kabul, Afghanistan ? U.S. operations in Afghanistan are marred by needless civilian casualties, lawless arrests and the alleged torture of prisoners, Human Rights Watch reported today.

The U.S. military rejected the group’s findings, saying it “confused the situation” in strife-torn Afghanistan for one where peacetime methods could be used.

Still, the report raises uncomfortable questions for the United States as it embarks on new operations to crush elusive militants like al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

“The behavior of the United States sends the message that the U.S. operates on a set of double standards,” the New York-based rights group said, referring the Washington’s criticism of other countries’ human rights records.

The 50-page report said the military used excessive force to capture suspects in residential areas.

In one raid detailed in the report, a farmer died from gunfire during an arrest operation aimed at a different man and his two sons, all of whom were later released.

The report also slammed American forces for an assault on an arms-filled compound in southeastern Paktia province last December that triggered explosions, toppled a wall and crushed six children to death. Another raid the following day killed nine more children, when a U.S. warplane strafed a mountain village in neighboring Ghazni province.

The military said it has modified its procedures after the deaths of the children and insisted its record in avoiding civilian casualties was “outstanding.”

“We’re not perfect,” U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said. “But we work hard to improve.”

Human Rights Watch said the military’s approach has helped alienate America’s allies, angered many Afghans and “lessened their willingness to cooperate with U.S. forces.”

The report also criticized U.S. treatment of some of the estimated 1,000 Afghans and other nationals arrested in Afghanistan since 2002.

Suspects seized by American troops are often whisked to Bagram, the main U.S. base north of Kabul. The CIA also runs prisons in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said. Other suspects languish in prisons run by local Afghan warlords.

The study included what it said were “credible and consistent” allegations that prisoners were beaten and deprived of sleep.

A U.S. military spokesman at the time of the study acknowledged these techniques but denied they amounted to mistreatment.