10 militants killed, 20 injured in south Afghanistan

Ten militants were killed and 20 others injured in an ongoing military operation conducted by Afghan security forces in southern Afghan province of Helmand, authorities said on Thursday. "Afghan army and police started a military operation in Fatie Mohammad Paich and other areas of the Sangin district of Helmand province on Wednesday. The operation is going on up to now. The security forces killed 10 armed insurgents and wounded 20 others," the provincial government said in a statement. The army specialists had defused 71 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and a motorcycles bomb, the statement added. The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments. Helmand is notorious for growing poppy and Taliban hotbed.