"Afghanistan continues to be a combat zone," King said. Thirty coalition soldiers have died in combat since the war in Afghanistan began in October 2001, King said. 11,500 soldiers from 23 countries are still in Afghanistan.

Later, an honor guard of 100 helmeted soldiers in desert fatigues saluted as pallbearers lifted two coffins wrapped in American flags into a C-130 transport plane. The soldiers´ bodies were being flown to Dover, Delaware, by way of bases in Uzbekistan and Germany. Both casualties were from the 82nd Airborne Division, said Major Robert Hepner, a US military spokesman at Bagram. The names have not been released.

They died after US soldiers engaged at least 20 rebels in a brief gun battle at Shkin, in eastern Afghanistan, King said. It was not clear if the enemy were holdouts from the Taleban regime, fugitive members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network or loyalists of renegade Afghan commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The area near the Pakistani border has been one of the most active in the country, with frequent rocket attacks on US bases.

Four other US soldiers injured in the fighting were in stable condition at a hospital at the base, just north of the capital, Kabul, King said. The soldiers were investigating reported activity by a group of men armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault rifles. "We had a report of suspicious activity," King said. "It was a place where rockets had been fired before, so a unit went out to take a look around."

The two sides became locked in a "short, sharp" firefight that ended when the rebels scattered and ran towards the Pakistan border, only 1,000 yards away. At least three enemy fighters were killed. King said a second group of 35 US soldiers was quickly called in, and two F-16 fighter jets, an A-10 fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships scrambled to the area, but were unable find any targets.