Kabul - More than 30 militants were killed in various clashes with Afghan and international forces across Afghanistan in recent days, military sources said Thursday. Additionally, 10 civilians were killed by suspected gunfire from Taliban militants.
In the latest incident, eight Taliban militants, including their district level commander, were killed in Andar district of southern Ghazni province on Wednesday night, Abdul Rahim Desiwal, district administrative chief, said.
Desiwal said the militants were killed in two separate clashes, in which NATO gunship helicopters were also used.
In a separate incident, US-led coalition forces and Afghan Army troops killed 12 other militants in Shaheed Hasas district of southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, the US military said in a statement released Thursday.
The combined forces were conducting a combat security patrol in the area when they were attacked by the militants, the report stated.
It added that the joint troops "responded with small-arms, RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and supporting fire, killing 12 militants."
Additionally, the statement said villagers reported to the combined forces that militant fire had killed 10 Afghan civilians in a nearby village. Three women and six children were also injured.
The statement said all the wounded were evacuated to a coalition hospital for treatment.
Also on Tuesday, Afghan and coalition forces killed nine other militants in a clash in the Nahr Surkh district of the volatile southern Helmand province, according to a separate US military statement.
Another militant was killed and two more were wounded in south- eastern Khost province on Wednesday by coalition forces.
An additional militant, who was trying to plant a roadside bomb on a highway in Khost province, was killed when the bomb exploded prematurely, the US military and Afghan defence ministry reported in separate statements.
No Afghan or coalition forces were killed in the firefights, the military said.
Attacks by Taliban-led insurgents have been on the rise in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year as around 70,000 international troops and more than 150,000 Afghan security forces have remained mainly in defensive positions.
Following their ouster in late 2001, Taliban militants turned the southern and eastern regions of the country into their main launching pad for their fight against allied forces.
The militants have recently begun to edge closer to the capital, Kabul, which houses thousands of Afghan and foreign forces.
The violence so far this year has left more than 4,000 people - mostly insurgents - dead.
