US marines are involved in a major offensive to drive the Taliban out of Helmand province [AFP]

The attack in the Zirok district on Saturday came as thousands of US marines were engaged in a major offensive against Taliban fighters hundreds of kilometres away in the southern Helmand province.

Lieutenant-Commander Christine Sidenstricker, a US military spokeswoman, said that the attack on the base in Paktika had also wounded another seven US troops and two Afghan soldiers.

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

Retaliatory air raids

Hamidullah Zhwak, a spokesman for the local administration, said that the US casualties occurred when a fuel tanker exploded.

A suicide bomber attempted to drive the vehicle towards the base. He was stopped and shot dead but the tanker detonated in the process, Zhwak said.

He said the troops called in helicopters after being attacked and the retaliatory air raids killed at least 32 Taliban fighters.

"After the blast the American helicopters came in and attacked the Taliban who were preparing to attack the district headquarters," he said.

Zabiullah Mujaheed, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide blast.

The attack came in the same area where a US soldier, who has been missing since Tuesday, is believed to have been captured by pro-Taliban fighters.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, seven policemen were killed and two others injured after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Registan district in southern Kandahar, the interior ministry said.

Officials blamed "enemies of the country" for the blast.

US offensive

US troops in Helmand have met local leaders in an attempt to consolidate gains [AFP]

The massive military offensive by US marines in southern Afghanistan is the first big push to drive the Taliban out of the Helmand province since Barack Obama became the US president in January.

The Taliban has vowed thousands of its fighters in the area will fight back, but a military spokesman said that there had only been limited resistance so far.

Up to 4,000 marines, backed by Nato aircraft and a 650-strong Afghan force, are moving into towns across Helmand.

Pentagon officials have said that the plan - the largest offensive by the US marines since Vietnam - is not just to inflict casualties against the enemy, but to dig in and hold on to territory.

General David Petraeus, the US chief military commander, has warned that the battle for control over the province will be a "tough fight".

Helmand is one of the Taliban's main heartlands in southern Afghanistan and produces the largest share of the country's opium crop, which supplies about 90 per cent of the world's heroin.

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