KABUL, Afghanistan - The Taliban claimed responsibility on Sunday for a nighttime assault on NATO's biggest base in southern Afghanistan in which insurgents fired rockets, mortars and automatic weapons in an attempt to storm Kandahar Air Field.

It was the second such attack on a major military installation this week. Several coalition troops and civilian employees were wounded in Saturday assault, but there were no reports of deaths, officials said.

Militants unleashed rockets and mortars about 8 pm and then tried to storm the northern perimeter, officials said. Artillery and machine-gun fire reverberated through the base, about 500 kilometers southwest of Kabul, for more than three hours afterward.