19 militants killed in latest Afghan military operations: gov't

About 19 militants were killed and 16 others wounded amid military operations launched by Afghan security forces in countryside within the last 24 hours, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"The raids were conducted in 18 of 34 Afghan provinces. In one operation, the Afghan air force struck the enemies' positions, killing five Taliban militants and destroyed two vehicles in Maruf district, southern Kandahar province," the ministry said in a statement.

Eight enemies together with two foreign militants were killed and nine militants wounded during a cleanup operation along a highway connecting southern Helmand province with the neighboring western Nimroz province, the statement said, adding that the security forces also found and defused 20 rounds of landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) there.

In addition, the Afghan army commandos destroyed a militants' bunker and seized huge amount of arms and ammunition in Maywand district of Kandahar, according to the statement.

The remaining casualties in militants' side occurred in separate provinces but the statement did not disclose if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

The Taliban has been on rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed the full responsibility of security from the U.S. and NATO forces.

In an unrelated development, one security guard was killed and one passerby wounded after a sticky IED attached to a local businessman's vehicle detonated in Jalalabad city, capital of eastern Nangarhar province earlier in the day, the provincial government confirmed in a statement. Enditem