38 militants killed in Afghan offensive

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Coalition forces killed 38 militants in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Also, two U.S. soldiers were wounded Sunday after their convoy was attacked by a suicide car bomber in western Afghanistan, the military said.

The offensive on Afghan militants occurred Saturday night in the Nahr Surkh District of Helmand province, according to a U.S. military statement.

The coalition forces, which include troops from the United States and other nations, identified militants and fired on them, killing and destroying two vehicles, according to the statement.

The attack on two U.S. soldiers occurred in the city of Herat. The suicide blast came a day after a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force was killed when a patrol struck a roadside bomb.

ISAF -- an alliance of about 40 nations charged with supporting the Afghan government in maintaining security -- withheld the soldier's name and nationality.

Also on Saturday, coalition troops and Afghan National Police killed five militants and took 18 more into custody during operations aimed at al Qaeda, the U.S. military said.

In one of the operations, troops detained a "significant al Qaeda associated militant" in the Paktia province on the border with Pakistan, the military said.

The detained man allegedly financed militant operations and assisted Taliban leaders to train and move Arab and foreign fighters into Afghanistan.

Troops conducted a second operation in the neighboring border province of Khost and detained a militant associated with the radical Haqqani network. That person also is suspected of helping move foreign fighters into Afghanistan, the statement said.

CNN's Ingrid Formanek contributed to this report.

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