Afghan forces kill 5 Taliban militants across country

Afghan national army forces have killed five Taliban militants during separate clean-up operations across the country over the past 24 hours.

“Five militants, including local leader Mullah Nadir, were killed and three others were wounded during army operations within the last 24 hours,” the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement released on Sunday.

The statement, however, did not mention if there were any casualties on the side of Afghan forces.

It added that Afghan bomb disposal experts also defused 21 bombs across the country since early Saturday.

On Saturday, a Taliban militant commander, identified as Mullah Noor Mohammad, along with 10 comrades was killed in the heavy exchange of fire with Afghan national army soldiers in Andar district of Ghazni province.

Taliban have recently stepped up their offensives against US-led foreign troops as well as Afghan national and provincial security forces.

The militant group said it would use every possible tactic to inflict casualties on Afghan and US-led forces.

The announcement prompted Afghan authorities to beef up security in major cities across the country, including the capital Kabul.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.