Washington, Jan 13 (IANS): The Pentagon has confirmed thattwo US soldiers were killed in action in Afghanistan's Kandahar province.

Both soldiers were killed on Saturday when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED), Xinhua news agency reported citing the Pentagon as saying in a statement on Sunday.

Both soldiers were assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, according to the statement.

Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.

The group's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that it conducted a roadside bombing against foreign forces near an airbase on the outskirts of provincial capital Kandahar city.

The US maintains roughly 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, which mostly provide training missions to local Afghan forces while also conducting counterterrorism operations against terror groups.

The death toll of American service members has surpassed 2,400 since the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001.