10 Afghan militants killed, 20 detained within day

Ten Taliban militants have been killed in Afghanistan within the last 24 hours, the authorities said Tuesday morning. "In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several joint clearance operations with the cooperation of Army, National Directorate for Security (NDS) and Coalition Forces to clean some of the areas from terrorists and enemies of peace and stability of Afghanistan. As a result eight armed Taliban were killed, five wounded and 20 others were arrested," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ANP also discovered and seized some amount of light and heavy rounds ammunition and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during the raids which were conducted in Nuristan, Kunar, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktiya and Helmand provinces, it noted. On early Tuesday morning, two Taliban militants were killed when an IED they were panting went off prematurely at a roadside in Khas Uruzgan district of southern Uruzgan province, the provincial police spokesman Farid Ayal told Xinhua. Following the blast, security forces found and defused four IEDs at the area, he said. The Taliban has yet to make comments.