Insurgents attack giant US air base

At least 10 insurgents were killed so far in the "ongoing attack" on Bagram, which started at about 3am with rockets, small arms and grenades fired into the base, said a spokeswoman for US forces at Bagram, Maj Virginia McCabe.

Seven US service members were wounded, she said.

The attack came one day after a suicide bomber struck a US convoy in the capital of Kabul, killing 18 people. The dead included five American troops and a Canadian, making it the deadliest attack on Nato in the Afghan capital in eight months.

The back-to-back attacks appeared part of a Taliban offensive the insurgents announced earlier this month – even as the US and its partners prepare for a major operation to restore order in the turbulent south.

Attacks against both the capital and a major American military installation show the militants are prepared to strike at the heart of the US-led mission.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both the Kabul bombing and the attack at Bagram, 30 miles north of Kabul. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said 20 suicide attackers were involved.

A building was damaged in the attack but it was "not a mission-essential building," Maj McCabe said. She said that while they could still hear occasional small-arms fire around the base late in the morning, "it is becoming more and more sporadic".

An Afghan provincial police commander, Gen Abdul Rahman Sayedkhail, said the attack began when US guards spotted would-be attackers in a car just outside the Bagram base.

The Americans opened fire, triggering a gun battle in which at least one militant triggered his suicide vest. Running battles broke out as US troops hunted down the others.

In February 2007, a suicide bombing killed more than 20 people at a Bagram security gate while Vice President Dick Cheney was inside the base. Mr Cheney was unhurt but the Taliban said he was the target.