KABUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Up to 21 Taliban

militants have been killed in operations carried out by the Afghan

police within the past 24 hours, authorities said Tuesday.

"Afghan National Police (ANP) backed by the Afghan army and the

NATO-led coalition forces launched seven cleanup operations in Kandahar,

Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Paktika and Nimroz provinces, killing 14

armed Taliban militants over the past hours, " the Afghan Interior

Ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

One militant was wounded and 12 other suspected militants were detained by the ANP during the above raids, the statement added.





In addition, a total of seven Taliban were killed and three others

detained in an operation carried out by the ANP in southern Helmand

province overnight, a provincial police spokesman said Tuesday.

"Seven militants, including a key Taliban commander named Mullah

Bashir, had been killed and five Taliban hideouts were destroyed in an

on-going operation launched by police in Populzai and Balochano area of

Nahri Sarraj district up to now as we know," spokesman Farid Ahmad Aayl

told Xinhua.

He said the police has also found and defused 52 roadside bombs and

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the operation in the province 555

km south of Afghan capital Kabul.

The Taliban insurgent group fighting Afghan and NATO-led forces has yet to make comments.





The Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have

intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militants

recently but the insurgents in retaliation responded by carrying out

suicide attacks and roadside bombings.