3 Afghan soldiers, 20 militants killed in various incidents

At least 3 Afghan national army (ANA) soldiers and 20 militants were killed in various incidents during the past 24 hours.Defense ministry spokesman, Gen. Zahir Azimi was quoted by Afghan Khaama online newspaepr as saying Thursday that two Afghan national army soldiers were martyred following improvised explosive devive (IED) explosion.Gen. Azimi further added that another Afghan national army (ANA) soldier was martyred in militants’ direct fire.He did not disclose further information regarding the exact locations of the incident.In the meantime, Azimi said at least 20 anti-government armed militants were killed during security operations in Kapisa, Ghazni, Zabul and Herat provinces of Afghanistan.Azimi also added that Afghan national army soldiers discovered and seized 43 light weapons, 3 heavy weapons, 5 vehicles, 7 sets of communication device and 92 improvised explosive devices (IED) during the operations in the past 24 hours.In a separate operation, Afghan national army soldiers eradicated 1106 hectare of land from opium in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, Azimi added.According to Azimi, Afghan national army soldiers arrested six anti-government armed militants in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan.