10 Afghan militants killed in army operation

GHAZNI -- Ten militants were killed in an Afghan army operation in the country's eastern province of Ghazni overnight, said an army source on Monday.

"Based on a tip off, the Afghan army launched an operation in Godar area of Andar district Sunday night. As a result 10 armed insurgents, including a key militant leader named Mawlawi Raouf, were killed in the raid," the army spokesman in the province Nazifullah Sultani said.

Twelve militants were wounded and a handful of weapons seized in the operation in Ghazni with Ghazni city as its capital, 125 km south of National capital Kabul, he noted.

The Taliban insurgent group has not made comments so far.

The Afghan security forces have intensified operations against the militants recently as they took the full operational lead from NATO-led troops in June. The militants retaliated with bombings and armed attacks.

On Sunday evening, the police chief of Pachir Wa Agam district along with three policemen were killed and two policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Nangarhar province.

The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of 2014.

More than 84,000-strong NATO-led troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are currently being deployed in Afghanistan.