Second U.S. soldier dies after gunbattle in Afghanistan

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- A second American soldier died Saturday from wounds suffered the day before in a battle with rebel fighters in eastern Afghanistan, a military spokesman said.

The soldier died hours after Friday's battle, Col. Roger King said from Bagram Air Base, the headquarters of U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Another U.S. soldier died Friday.

"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. There are 11,500 soldiers from 23 countries still in Afghanistan.

Later Saturday, 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, Del., by way of bases in Uzbekistan and Germany.

Both casualties were from the 82nd Airborne Division, said Maj. Robert Hepner, a U.S. military spokesman at Bagram. The names of the soldier and airman have not been released.

Four other U.S. soldiers injured in the fighting were in stable condition at a hospital at the base, just north of the capital, Kabul, King said.

At least three enemy fighters were killed.

King said a second group of 35 U.S. 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 to lock onto any targets.