Afghan army kills 14 Taliban militants

KABUL: The Afghan army has killed 14 militants and injured seven others in two provinces, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. Nine Taliban militants were killed and three injured after Afghan National Army (ANA) Air Force struck Taliban positions in Marja and Nahri Sarraj districts of the restive southern Helmand province on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.

The strikes were called in after specific intelligence information confirmed the presence of scores of militants in the two districts. In neighboring western Farah province, five Taliban militants lost their lives and four others were wounded during a clean-up operation in the province’s Bala Buluk district on the same day. The Afghan security forces alongside US and Nato-led coalition forces have increased ground and air offensives against militants in the last

few months as the militants attack government interests across the country from time to time.