KABUL: Eight militants were killed in a gunbattle after a suicide car bombing Wednesday at the entrance to an airport outside the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, airport authorities said.

After the car bombing, a group of militants, using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, battled international forces for 30 minutes, according to information provided by the media office at the airport.

The Taliban claimed responsibility. In a text message to in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said six suicide attackers killed 32 foreign and Afghan security forces at the airport, about 125 kilometers (78 miles) east of the Afghan capital.

Ghafoor Khan, a spokesman for the provincial police chief in Nangarhar province, said that during the fighting, international forces blocked access to the area and helicopters patrolled overhead. The airport is situated on a main road on the outskirts of the city that leads to the Pakistani border.

NATO said there had been an incident at the airport, but said it could not immediately provide details.