16 militants killed in joint Afghan operations within day

Sixteen Taliban militants were killed in a series of joint operations carried out by the Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops since early Wednesday, said the country's Interior Ministry on Thursday morning. "Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), supported by the coalition troops, conducted several cleanup operations, killing 16 armed Taliban insurgents over the last 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua reported. Up to 14 militants were wounded and four arrested during the raids launched in Herat, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Wardak, it noted. In addition, seven armed Taliban militants were captured in an overnight Afghan special police force raid in Western Herat province, a provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said earlier on Thursday. "A handful of weapons and ammunition were also seized during the operation which was launched in Mahajirin Shahidan area in suburban of Herat city. The captured terrorists had been involved in a string of attacks in Herat city and surrounding areas over the past one year," Ahmadi added. The Taliban insurgent group, which has intensified attacks since they launched annual rebel offensive in April, has not made comments as at the time of filing this report.