The attack appears to be the deadliest against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in years.
NATO's International Security Assistance force says that militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in Kunar province, a mountainous region that borders Pakistan.
The Western official says that nine U.S. soldiers have been killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deaths had not yet been officially announced.
