Afghan Security Forces Kill 47 Militants Within Day: Govt

Kabul (Antara/Xinhua-OANA) - The Afghan security forces have killed 47 Taliban militants across the country within the past 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Sunday. "Afghan army, police and intelligence agency personnel conducted several cleanup operations and battled the militants over the past 24 hours, killing 47 armed Taliban militants," the ministry said in a statement. About 12 militants were wounded and three others detained by the joint forces in raids launched in Nangarhar, Laghman, Badakhshan, Kandahar, Zabul, Wardak, Logar and Ghazni provinces, the statement said. The Afghan National Police had defused 19 roadside bombs and landmine planted by the militants over the period of time, according to the statement. In eastern Kunar province, three Taliban members were killed when a U.S. drone fired two rockets on a militants' hideout overnight, the provincial police chief Habibullah Sayyedkhil told Xinhua earlier on Sunday. The Taliban insurgent group has yet to make comments.(*)