Three guards at a U.S. base near the airport outside the Afghan city of Jalalabad and two civilians were reported killed in a suicide attack by Taliban militants.

Nine militants also were reported to have been killed in the incident, which began when attackers detonated explosives and fired rockets, reported RFERL (Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty) today.

There are unconfirmed reports that some of the militants may have been wearing Afghan Army uniforms.

The Afghan officials said the first four attackers had arrived in explosive-laden cars and targeted different entrances to the airfield early on Sunday, others who had followed on foot battled security guards.

A spokesman for the NATO-led international coalition in Afghanistan said an undetermined number of NATO troops were wounded in the attack.

BBC’s reporter Orla Guerin in Kabul said the attack appeared “co-ordinated and complex”. She added that this was not the first time the Taliban had targeted the air base, which is used by US and Nato forces. In February Taliban killed nine people in a similar attack.

The insurgents have been battling Nato and Afghan troops for 11 years and still control parts of the east and south.