15 militants killed in Afghan raids within day

Up to 15 Taliban militants have been killed in operations carried out by Afghan police, army and the NATO-led coalition forces within the past 24 hours, the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. "Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan Army and Coalition Forces launched 11 joint clearance operations in Laghman, Baghlan, Kunduz, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Wardak and Khost provinces over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in the statement. "As a result of these operations, 15 armed Taliban were killed, three wounded and nine others were arrested by the ANP," the statement said, adding the joint forces also found and seized weapons during the above raids. Additionally, a Taliban weapons dealer named Hizbullah was killed Tuesday morning during a search operation in eastern Paktiak province. "An Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban weapons dealer and destroyed his cache of illegal weapons during an operation in Omnah district, Paktika province, today." the NATO- led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed in a press release. "Hizbullah, the weapons dealer, and one other armed insurgent maneuvered on the Afghan and coalition troops as the security force approached Hizbullah's compound. The security force positively identified the lethal threat and engaged both armed insurgents, killing them. No civilians were harmed during the operation," the ISAF release said. Prior to his death, Hizbullah was also believed to have been attempting to acquire a heavy machine gun and additional equipment for future insurgent attacks, it said. The Taliban insurgent group, which have been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, have yet to make comments.