Afghan troops kill 7 militants during raids

Seven Taliban militants were killed in military operations in Afghanistan, the country's Interior Ministry said on Saturday. "In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several anti-terrorism joint operations with Afghan National Army and National Directorate for Security (NDS) in Kabul, Nangarhar and Wardak provinces. As a result seven armed Taliban members were killed, four wounded and five others were arrested," the ministry said in a statement. The ANP also found and defused 17 different types of improvised explosive devices in Helmand, Farah, Kapisa and Parwan provinces over the same period of time, the statement added. The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, is yet to make comments.