A total of 21 Taliban militants have been killed and 19 others arrested
during military operations in different provinces in Afghanistan within
the past 24 hours, the Afghan interior ministry said on Monday morning.

"Afghan police, army and NATO-led coalition forces launched 15
cleanup operations in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Faryab, Kandahar,
Helmand, Uruzgan, Wardak and Logar provinces, killing 21 armed Taliban
insurgents and detaining 19 other suspects," the ministry said in a
statement providing daily operational updates.
They also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without
saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.
Two more insurgents were wounded in the above operations, it said.


However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced the launching
of a spring offensive from May 3 against Afghan and NATO forces, has not
make comments yet.
Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have
intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militant groups
throughout the country recently as spring and summer, known as
"fighting season", draw near.
More than 800 insurgents have been killed and more than 1,450 others
detained in the country so far this year, according to figures released
by the ministry.http://english.cri.cn/6966/2012/05/28/2821s702376.htm

additionally

13 Taliban terrorist militants slain, 15 captured in Afghanistan

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&;Id=317914

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency)
- Afghan security forces have killed 13 Taliban militants and captured
15 others during cleanup operations across the country over the course
of 24 hours.

“Afghan policemen and army troops and NATO-led
coalition forces launched seven joint operations in Laghman, Kandahar,
Zabul, Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, and Farah provinces, killing 13 armed
Taliban militants and detaining 15 others over the past 24 hours,” the
Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday
afternoon.

They also recovered weapons from the militants.

The
Taliban have announced that their annual “spring offensive” across
Afghanistan has begun and are threatening to target US-led NATO troops
and their allies.

Code-named Al-Farouq, the primary targets of
the offensive will be “foreign invaders, their advisors, their
contractors, all those who help them militarily and in intelligence,”
the militants said on their website.

“Al-Farouq spring offensive will be launched on May 3 all over Afghanistan,” the Taliban stated.

Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of about 130,000 US-led forces in the war-torn country.

The
United Nations announced on February 4 that 2011 was the deadliest year
on record for Afghan civilians. The death toll rose eight percent
compared to 2010 and was roughly double the figure for 2007.

Overall,
3,021 civilians died in violence related to the war and 4,507 were
injured in 2011. Of the deaths, the UN attributed 77 percent to militant
attacks and 14 percent to US-led foreign troops and Afghan forces. Nine
percent of the cases were classified as unknown.