Soldiers were dispatched and an A-10 Thunderbolt-II aircraft was called in when 25 to 30 militants attacked a "convoy of Afghan jungle trucks" in Uruzgan province, military spokesman, Major Rick Peat said.

"Coalition air and ground forces were dispatched to assist the convoy," Peat told AFP.

"An A-10 Thunderbolt II 'Warthog' airplane fired rockets and 30 mm canon shells at the attackers while the convoy evacuated the area," he added.

Peat said that the convoy of 12 trucks and five pick-up jeeps were accompanied by Afghan militia forces, but did not specify whether all the trucks were government vehicles.

Noone was injured in the attack, but one of the vehicles was destroyed in the exchange of fire, he added.

Uruzgan, some 370 kilometers (220 miles) south of the capital Kabul was the birth-place of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and is a stronghold for insurgents.

The rugged valley was also the scene of bloody clashes between fighters and more than 2,400 US marines who pulled out of the province in late July after four months of fighting.

Taliban-led militants have stepped up a guerrilla campaign in the south and southeast of the country in recent months as Afghanistan draws closer to the country's first presidential elections on October 9.

WAR.WIRE