A "thank you" would suffice!

AP: U.S. Relief Copter Apparently Fired Upon---

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Assailants fired an apparent rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. military helicopter ferrying relief supplies to quake victims in Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, but it vowed to continue relief flights to the devastated region.

The attack occurred at about 1:45 p.m. (2:45 a.m. EST) as the helicopter was flying over Chakothi, a quake-savaged town near the Line of Control that separates the Pakistani and Indian portions of the Himalayan region, Capt. Rob Newell, a spokesman for the U.S. military relief effort, told The Associated Press.

"A United States Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter that was flying in the vicinity of Chakothi delivering relief to earthquake victims is believed to have been fired on by a rocket-propelled grenade today around 1:45 p.m.," he said. "The aircraft was not hit and returned safely with its crew" to an air base near the capital.

He said four American crew members, a Pakistani pilot and a freelance journalist on board at the time were not hurt. Newell said the U.S. Army and the Pakistani government were investigating.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press that he doubted any such attack took place, noting that road-clearing engineers were blasting a road near where the helicopters were flying.

"The blast was huge enough to kick up dust which the pilot probably misunderstood as rocket fire," he said, adding that Pakistani army troops carried out a cordon and search operation and spoke to witnesses on the ground, none of whom reported a rocket attack.

A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject to Pakistan-American relations, said the military stood by its account.

"The guy who saw it was one of the crew members who had been in Afghanistan for many months before coming over here," said the official. "He had been shot at numerous times and he knows what an RPG looks and feels like."

Most of the helicopters the U.S. is providing for quake relief have come straight from fighting Operation Enduring Freedom in neighboring Afghanistan.