29 militants killed in Afghanistan

Twenty-nine Taliban were killed and 24 others wounded in clashes and operations since Friday morning, said the Afghan Interior Ministry and officials on Saturday morning. "In the past 24 hours, the Afghan National Security Forces ( ANSF) and Coalition Forces conducted several cleanup operations in Herat, Ghazni, Nangarhar, Khost and Paktiya provinces. As a result 20 armed Taliban were killed, 12 wounded and six other armed Taliban were arrested by the ANSF," the ministry said in a press statement. They also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces. Earlier on Saturday, two Taliban fighters were killed and one policeman was injured as Taliban launched an attack against police checkpoint in Chardara district of northern Kunduz province, 250 km north of Kabul, the deputy provincial police chief Ebadullah Talwar told Xinhua. In addition, seven Taliban were killed and 12 wounded in an infighting in Kushki Kuhna district of western Herat province on Friday, the district administrative chief Ahmad Farid told Xinhua, adding the clash took place following collecting of illegal extortion from locals in a pistachio forest in the area some 640 km west of Kabul. The Taliban insurgent group, which has intensified attacks since they launched annual spring offensive in April, has yet to make comments.