Around 50 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan operations

"Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several clean-up operations with the cooperation of army, intelligence agency and the NATO-led coalition forces, killing 49 armed Taliban, wounding eight and arresting 11 other armed militants," Xinhua reported, citing a ministry statement providing daily operational updates.

Afghan Army soldiers stand alongside weapons seized from Taliban fighters. Pic: AFP

The raids were carried out in Helmand, Farah, Herat, Logar, Uruzgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces.

The ANP also discovered and confiscated some ammunition besides defusing several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and seizing 270 kg of opium, the statement said. It did not say if there was any casualty among the security forces.

"During the same 24-hour period, the ANP discovered and defused eight anti-vehicle mines placed by enemies of Afghanistan for destructive activities in Kandahar, Badghis and Nangarhar provinces," it said.

The Taliban made no comment till the time of filing this report.

Afghan security forces have intensified operations against the Taliban and other militant groups recently. But the insurgents responded by bombings and armed attacks.

Eleven border policemen were killed Monday morning when Taliban launched an armed attack on a checkpoint in Shorabak district of southern Kandahar province bordering Pakistan.