KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military is taking as few prisoners as possible in its campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, partly to win more support from the Afghan people, an American commander said yesterday.

Col. Gary Cheek, the U.S. commander for eastern Afghanistan, said the troops under his command would be "relentless" in their pursuit of insurgents, including some 20 unidentified top leaders, through the bitter Afghan winter.

But after a review of the military's policy on detentions last summer, the soldiers were taking as few prisoners as possible as they try to win stronger support from the local population, he said.

"We are always adapting to the changes in the environment and our commanders, our soldiers, are also trying to be more sensitive to the Afghan culture," Cheek said. "I've told our commanders, for example, to minimize the number of Afghan nationals or others that they detain."

The U.S. military, which still commands 18,000 troops here, has taken thousands of prisoners in Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom, the Bush administration's anti-terrorism drive, began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Those not released quickly are transferred to larger jails at U.S. bases in Bagram and Kandahar, and many have been sent from there to the American prison for terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

However, allegations of mistreatment — eight prisoners have died in custody in Afghanistan, and Human Rights Watch has criticized the U.S. investigations of those deaths — have hurt efforts to win over ordinary Afghans.

Officials gave no figures to show whether detention rates had indeed declined, though Cheek said the three holding facilities under his control at eastern Afghan bases were empty.

Cheek said he was confident his troops were treating every detainee "with dignity and respect."

"If we were to treat those we detain poorly, it would really hurt our overall attempts to win the confidence and trust of the population, so it makes no sense for us to abuse prisoners and I will tell you that we do not do that," he said.