Some 1,800 insurgents killed in Afghanistan since Jan

Afghan army, police and the NATO-led coalition forces have been stepping up pressure on the Taliban and other insurgent groups across the insurgency-hit country. Records kept by Xinhua, based on the figures released by the country's Interior Ministry, reveals that a total of 1,840 insurgents have been killed and 2,030 others detained by the joint forces from Jan. 1 to Aug. 4. In the latest raids on insurgents, the Afghan forces, backed by the NATO-led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, have eliminated nine Taliban insurgents within a 24- hours period ending Saturday morning, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. "Afghan National Police (ANP), army and the NATO-led coalition forces carried out five clean-up operations in Kabul, Balkh, Paktika and Pakita provinces, killing nine armed Taliban insurgents throughout the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. One armed Taliban insurgent was injured and three others detained by the joint forces, the statement added. In another development, about 12 insurgents were killed and 23 others detained in operations carried out by the joint forces in eastern Afghan provinces from Thursday evening to Friday evening, the ISAF's Regional Command-East (RC-East) said in a statement issued Saturday. The joint forces also found weapons and ammunition besides defusing 15 roadside bombs or Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). "Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces detained 23 insurgents during engagements, 20 in Terezayi district, two in Musa Khel district and one in Khost district in the eastern Khost province," it said. "A coalition air strike killed eight insurgents in Marawarah district in Kunar province after Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces were engaged in a firefight,"the statement said. Meanwhile, four other insurgents were killed in the eastern Logar province, according to the statement. Operations in RC-East are still ongoing, it said. The Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching of an annual spring offensive from May 3 against Afghan and NATO forces, has yet to make comments. However, the Taliban insurgents, who have been waging a fierce insurgency since their regime was toppled in a U.S.-led incursion in late 2001, have responded by massive suicide attacks and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts and roadside bombings in the war-ravaged country. The ALP or Afghan police shot dead three suicide bombers in southern Helmand province Friday afternoon. "Three suicide bombers wearing woman's clothes and armed with suicide vests and AK-47 guns approached to Dahana police checkposts in Naw Zad district of Helmand province, attempting to launch a terror attack Friday afternoon but police identified the attackers and killed them all," the Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday. In another development, the joint forces arrested a Taliban financier in Andar district of eastern Ghazni province Thursday, the ISAF forces confirmed in a separate statement Saturday. "The detained Taliban financier oversaw the transfer of tens of thousands of Pakistani rupees to fund insurgent activities. He was also directly involved in planning and directing insurgent attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the province," The security force also detained multiple suspected insurgents during the operation, it added. During a separate operation in Watahpur district in Kunar province, an Afghan and coalition security force engaged a group of heavily armed insurgents with a precision airstrike. "A post-strike assessment confirmed multiple insurgents had been killed and several of the heavy weapons had been destroyed. The assessment also confirmed the airstrike had not injured any civilians or damaged any civilian property," it added. However, military operations, insurgent attacks, IED blast have also caused casualties on the side of the security forces. A total of 272 NATO soldiers have lost their lives since the beginning of this year. As many as 470 Afghan national police and 165 local police have been killed and 1,246 policemen injured over the past four months, the Interior Ministry Spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi told reporters on July 28. However, there is no official figure about the casualties of the Afghan army.