Mohammad Azizi holds a picture of his brother Muneer Ahmad Musamim who was detained by US forces in Kabul. (Reuters)

Kabul, Nov. 22 (Reuters): US-led troops searching for three UN hostages blasted their way into compounds in Kabul today and detained 12 people while militants claiming to hold the UN workers warned the government against any tricks.

Among those detained in the pre-dawn raids in the west of the Afghan capital was a doctor named Muneer Ahmad Musamim, whose wife said worked for the UN, and his 17-year-old son.

The wife, Zakia Musamim, said 10 neighbours were detained in the raids by US and Afghan forces at about 2300 GMT yesterday. She said they blew down a wall with rockets and fired small arms, but there were no casualties.

Lieutenant-General David Barno, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, confirmed US forces took part in an operation in connection with the hostages, but declined to give details.

There was no indication the raids had helped efforts to free Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan, who were abducted in Kabul on October 28 after helping run a presidential election won by US-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai.

Zakia Musamim said her family and neighbours knew nothing about the hostages except what they heard from the news.

?My husband is a doctor who has worked for the UN for three years. The others are just poor people working in the city,? she said.