More than a dozen insurgents have been killed in an ongoing clearing operation in southern Helmand province, an official said on Monday.
The fighters suffered the fatalities in Joshali locality, where security forces defused 16 landmines and seized a walkie-talkie and hundreds Kalashnikov bullets.
Lt. Col. Mohammad Rasoul Zazai, spokesman for the 215th Maiwand Military Corps, told Pajhwok Afghan News the dead included 10 men from Pakistan’s tribal region of Waziristan.
Zazai said the operation had been extended to Sangin district, with security forces launching an all-out push to protect the areas cleared of militants.
Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed killing several security personnel in the Sangin fighting, but local officials spurned the assertion as groundless. (PAN)