Joint operation kills 23 Taliban in Afghan Logar province

Twenty-three Taliban insurgents have been killed in an operation conducted by Afghan police, army and the NATO-led coalition forces in eastern Logar province 60 km south of capital Kabul, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday."Afghan National Police (ANP) with cooperation of the army and coalition forces launched a joint clearance operation in the Sjawand village, Braki Brak district of Logar province on Tuesday, killing 23 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 26 other armed Taliban," the ministry said in a statement.They also seized several rounds of light and heavy weapons besides defusing dozens of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), it added.The security forces have recently intensified operations across the country as spring and summer which is known as the traditional fighting season in the country is drawing near.The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.In separate development, two ANP cops and five Taliban were killed and several militants were wounded when militants launched an attack against police checkpoints in Wardoj district in northern Badakhshan province Tuesday evening, a provincial security official General Ishaq Tamkin told Xinhua.Earlier this month, up to 16 Afghan army soldiers had been killed when Taliban ambushed a military convoy in Wardoj in the province 315 km northeast of Kabul.