KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants fired rockets and mortar shells at an American base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two United States soldiers and wounding several more in a two-hour battle, officials said.During the clash, which ended only after United States forces called in airstrikes, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck toward the bases gates. It blew up when American troops fired on it.
The multipronged attack in Paktika Province, near the Pakistan border, was hundreds of miles from the major Marine assault in southern Afghanistan and underscored the militants ability to fight the American-led coalition on multiple fronts. More than 30 insurgents were killed in the battle, in Zerok District, said Hamidullah Zawak, the provincial governors spokesman. Seven American soldiers and two Afghan soldiers were wounded, a United States military spokesman said.
Helicopters, airstrikes and fire from American troops killed at least 10 militants, according to a statement from the NATO force that the Americans were fighting under. The coalition troops detained one militant, the statement said. The discrepancy in the militants death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.