Taliban militants fired rockets and mortars at a US base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two American troops and wounding several more in a two-hour battle, officials said.

During the clash, which ended only after US forces called in airstrikes, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck toward the base's gates. It blew up when American troops fired on it.

More than 30 insurgents were killed in the battle in Zerok district of Paktika province, said Hamidullah Zawak, the provincial Governor spokesman. Seven American and two Afghan troops were wounded, a US military spokesman said.

Attack helicopters, airstrikes and fire from US troops killed at least 10 militants, according to a statement from the NATO-led force under which these American troops fight. Troops detained one militant, it said. The discrepancy in the militant death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.

The attack near the Pakistan border is hundreds of miles from the massive Marine assault in southern Afghanistan and underscores the militants’ ability to inflict casualties on the over-stretched US forces.