ISLAMABAD, March 20: Two United States military bases outside Khost city in eastern Afghanistan were attacked early Wednesday, killing three and wounding eight Afghan allied troops, news reports said.

One American soldier was also wounded, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) agency reported.

Rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machineguns were fired in the pre-dawn attacks on Khost airport, situated southeast of the city, and a training camp run by the U.S. for the allied Afghan tribals at Sara Bagh to the northeast, the Pakistan-based agency said.

Helicopter gunships arrived at the scene and returned fire, the agency quoted residents of Khost as saying.

Details of the fighting were not available as the battle areas were sealed off.

But news filtering into the bordering Parachinar area of Pakistan claimed the Afghan allies were killed by “friendly fire” from US warplanes called in to help.—dpa