Wednesday, March 29 2006 15:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kandahar: Coalition troops and warplanes battled militants who attacked a base in south Afghanistan today (Mar 29, 2006), leaving a US and a Canadian soldier dead along with at least 12 rebels, the military said.

The attack in insurgency-hit Helmand province was the biggest on a coalition base in months and came about two weeks after Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime pledged a new spring offensive.

Four coalition troops and an Afghan soldier were also wounded in the firefight that followed the attack by a "significant enemy element" at around 2:30 AM (local time), a coalition statement said.

The coalition called in close air support to repel the insurgents, who attacked with guns and rocket-propelled grenades in restive Sangin district, the US and Canadian forces said.

"The enemy employed mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms," coalition spokesman Lieutenant Mike Cody told sources. The coalition air support included three 500-pound bombs, two 1,000-pound bombs, high-explosive rockets, guided missiles and incendiary rounds."

The response was "believed to have killed at least a dozen enemy insurgents", the coalition statement said.

Thirteen US troops have now died in hostile action in Afghanistan this year. The Canadian soldier named as Private Robert Costall was the first from his country to die in combat here in 2006.