Two US marines and 23 insurgents were killed after a five-hour gun battle in Afghanistan's eastern province of Laghman Sunday, US military said on Monday.

Marines, conducting support and stability operations in the area, received reports of insurgent activity near their location Sunday. As the Marines maneuvered toward the insurgents to investigate approximately 25 individuals attacked them, the military said.

The Marines came under attack from small arms and rocket- propelled grenades. As the fighting continued the insurgents split into two groups, one of which fled to a village and the other to a cave on a nearby ridgeline. US Air Force A-10 aircraft engaged the insurgents in the cave and a squad of Marines went afterwards to assess the situation. The two Marines were killed while clearing the cave area.

Sunday's deaths made the number of American troops killed in and around Afghanistan to 143 since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, according to US Defense Department statistics.

The marines died days after the bloodiest fighting in Afghanistan in nine months, when US and Afghan forces clashed with a group of insurgents in two southern provinces last week. 64 rebels, nine Afghan soldiers and an Afghan policeman were reported killed, while six US troops were among the injured.