Afghan security operations kill 76 militants

KABUL - A total of 76 militants were killed during a series of security operations conducted by the Afghan army, police and the country's intelligence agency since early Monday, said the country's Interior Ministry on Tuesday.

"Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army and the National Directorate for Security (NDS) or intelligence service conducted several anti-terrorism joint operations in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Faryab, Logar, Laghman, Kunar, Paktika, Herat and Helmand provinces, killing 76 armed Taliban members, wounding two militants and detaining nine others over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement noted that three ANP policemen were also killed and six were wounded during the above raids. ?

The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.

The army and police have stepped up efforts to clear the militants across Afghanistan as the country is preparing for the presidential and provincial council elections slated for April 5 this year.

However, the militants retaliated by bombings and attacks. Four civilians were wounded in a suicide attack in southern Helmand province on Monday, while 21 soldiers were killed in a massive Taliban attack on an army outpost in eastern Kunar province on Sunday.