Two U.S. soldiers killed in complex Afghan attack

By Paul Tait

KABUL (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a complex attack on a base in southeast Afghanistan that ended with air strikes Saturday, the U.S. military said, two days after a major operation against the Taliban was launched in the south.

The attack included an attempted suicide truck bombing of the base in the Zirok district of southeastern Paktika province, local officials said. As many as 30 Taliban insurgents might have been killed in the air strikes, they said.

It came after thousands of U.S. Marines launched a major offensive in southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and major opium poppy producing area, Thursday, the first big operation of U.S. President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilise Afghanistan.

The Marines and other forces have so far met little resistance and there have been no reports of big reprisal attacks by the Taliban or its allies since Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, began in Helmand.

Another seven U.S. soldiers and two Afghan troops were wounded in Saturday's attack on the combat operating post near Zirok, Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker said.

"It was a complex attack that started with small-arms and indirect fire on the post, then an improvised explosive device went off," Sidenstricker said.

"Air strikes were called in some time after," she said.

Hamidullah Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said a suicide bomber drove a truck towards the base during the attack but was shot before he could reach it. Explosives in the truck detonated during the shooting, he said.