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Firefight erupts in Afghanistan

No troops injured, U.S. military official says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Special Forces and Afghan allies were fired upon Saturday night in an undisclosed location of Afghanistan in the first firefight involving U.S. troops in Afghanistan since March 19, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.

According to Maj. Bryan Hilferty, a U.S. military spokesman at the Bagram air base, the joint forces were patrolling a road when they came under attack. In response, they called in an AC-130 gunship plane.

No U.S. or Afghan soldiers were injured in the attack, whose location Hilferty did not specify.

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Hilferty said he believed heavy rounds fired by the gunship had killed several of the enemy. More information was being gathered at the scene to determine who was responsible for the attack, he said.

"We believe they are al Qaeda, or they wouldn't have shot at us," Hilferty said.

American troops have been well-received throughout most of Afghanistan, said Hilferty, adding that some U.S. troops have been caught in erupting factional clashes since the ruling Taliban were ousted.

The last major firefight in Afghanistan occurred March 19 near Khost, when 10 al Qaeda fighters were killed, according to Hilferty.

Two mortar rounds also were fired at the U.S.-controlled airstrip near Khost overnight Saturday, Hilferty said. No American troops were injured there, he said.