Suicide attackers detonated bombs and fired rockets outside a major US base in Afghanistan killing five people today.
The attack highlighted the country's security challenges ahead of the 2014 NATO combat troop pullout.
Local police officials said bodies in Afghan police and military uniforms were scattered around the entrance of the airfield in the eastern city of Jalalabad after a two-hour battle.
A Taliban spokesman said the militant group had launched the assault.
The Taliban, who have been fighting US-led NATO and Afghan forces for more than a decade, sometimes dress in uniforms for attacks.
Two suicide bombers died after blowing themselves up in cars, a spokesman for the provincial government said.
Seven other bombers were killed in the a gunbattle with Afghan and coalition forces. Three Afghan soldiers and two civilians also died.