Thaindian News

Kabul, July 23 (IANS) Over a hundred Taliban militants were killed in a three-day operation by Afghan and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, Xinhua reported Saturday.

Eighty militants were killed in Paktika province, 155 km east of Kabul over the past three days, the provincial government said in a statement Saturday.

“The combined operations of Afghan and international troops have left 80 militants dead in Paktika,” the statement said.

The operations were carried out in Marizko and Armai villages of the province. Air power was also used.

Mukhils Afghan, the spokesman for the provincial government, said there was no casualty among the civilian and security forces.

The Afghan and NATO troops killed 16 more militants during an overnight operation in the Helmand province, a stronghold of the Taliban about 550 km south of Kabul.

Eight more militants were killed in a Friday night raid on a Taliban hideout in Baghlan province, 160 km north of Kabul, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said.

“Police raided Taliban hideout in Dand-e-Ghori district Friday night as a result eight rebels were killed,” he told Xinhua.

The spring and summer have been traditionally the “fighting season” in Afghanistan as both sides, militants and the security forces, attempt to consolidate their positions before the winter in the war-torn country, Xinhua said.