82 insurgents killed in operations in Afghanistan

KABUL - Afghan police and army, backed by NATO-led coalition forces, have killed up to 82 Taliban insurgents during operations in seven provinces within the past 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday morning. ?

"Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS or Afghan intelligence agency and Coalition Forces launched 12 joint cleanup operations in Kabul, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar and Ghazni provinces, killing 82 armed Taliban insurgents during the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates to media.

A total of eight insurgents had been injured and four others detained during the above raids, the statement added.

The joint forces also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of a spring offensive from May 3 against the Afghan and NATO forces, has not to make comment yet.

The Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militants throughout the country recently but the insurgents in retaliation responded by carrying out suicide attacks and roadside bombings especially in southern and eastern parts of the country.

The Taliban carried out a suicide car bombing, killing seven civilians and injuring 23 others in southern Kandahar province on Monday evening.

More than 1,500 insurgents have been killed and over 1,950 others detained since the beginning of this year by joint forces.