2 US Troops Die in Attack on Base in Afghanistan

A U.S. Marine from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 1st Battalion 5th Marines takes a position...

A U.S. Marine from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 1st Battalion 5th Marines takes a position next to piles of dried poppy bulbs in the village of Noghara in the Nawa district in Afghanistan's Helmand province Friday July 3, 2009. U.S. forces have encountered little resistance in the initial phase of a massive operation by some 4,000 Marines in Taliban-controlled areas of southern Afghanistan, but that's a common tactic by insurgents. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

(AP)

During the battle, an insurgent drove a truck filled with explosives and gravel toward the gates of the U.S. base, Zawak said. When the driver did not heed warnings to stop, troops opened fire on the truck, which exploded, he said.

The blast happened as rocket and mortar fire peppered the base, killing two U.S. troops and wounding seven other American soldiers, said Spc. April Campbell, a U.S. military spokeswoman.

The clash lasted for two hours before U.S.-called airstrikes that ended the fight, Zawak said.

Two Afghan soldiers were also wounded. The base housed both U.S. and Afghan soldiers.

Zabiullah Mujaheed, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack. After the blast, some 100 Taliban fighters fired at the coalition troops for several hours, briefly taking over two of their checkpoints, Mujaheed said.

Campbell denied the Taliban ever took over any checkpoints.

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Zawak said that 32 insurgents were killed in the airstrikes and that authorities have already recovered 16 bodies. Mujaheed said five insurgents were killed and three were wounded.

It is impossible to independently verify Zawak's and Mujaheed's claims because the base is in a remote area.

Saturday's attack happened in the same province where an American soldier and three Afghans were believed captured by insurgents Tuesday.

U.S. troops continued looking for the soldier, Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said Friday. The military has not publicly identified him.

No immediate claim of responsibility was made by any insurgent group for the missing soldier or Saturday's attack.

Taliban faction led by Sirajuddin Haqqani operate in the area where the attack took place. The U.S. has accused Haqqani of masterminding beheadings and suicide bombings, including the July 2008 attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed 60 people.

In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, a roadside bomb Saturday killed seven policemen in Kandahar province, the Interior Ministry statement said. Another two Afghan soldiers died in a separate blast in Helmand province's Musa Qala district also Saturday, the Defense Ministry said.