A truck bombing outside a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan has triggered a two-hour gunbattle that was ended with airstrikes.

Two American soldiers are dead and seven wounded. An Afghan
official says more than 30 insurgents died.

The official says the attack began when militants drove a truck
full of explosives and gravel toward the gates of the American
base. When the truck driver did not heed warnings to stop, troops
opened fire and the truck exploded.

For the next two hours, American troops and insurgents traded
fire. It only ended when airstrikes quieted the insurgents.

The skirmish happened in the same province where an American
soldier and three Afghans were believed captured by insurgents
Tuesday. No word yet on their fate.