Afghanistan attack

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 30 (UPI) -- Militants stormed a NATO air base in Afghanistan Wednesday but coalition forces repelled the attack, NATO said.

The attack on a base near Jalalabad involved a car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades but coalition casualties were limited to two wounded soldiers, NATO said. At least eight attackers, believed to be Taliban, were killed.

The assault came less than 24 hours after U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus warned of increased hostilities. Petraeus testified before a U.S. Senate committee, which supports his recent nomination to take over command of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

Petraeus said an "industrial strength insurgency" is likely to "get more intense in the next few months." June, with 100 NATO soldiers killed, has seen the highest number of deaths in the coalition since the invasions of Afghanistan nearly 9 years ago.

International and Afghanistan forces are being staged for an offensive in Kandahar province, an operation planned to begin with U.S. President Barack Obama's target of July 2011 for starting a withdrawal from the country looming.