19 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan’s airstrikes

JALALABAD: Nineteen Taliban militants were killed and seven others injured in airstrikes in two eastern Afghan provinces, local sources said Sunday.

In the airstrikes which occurred at mid-day Sunday, 11 militants were killed and three others wounded after Afghan Air Force pounded militants’ hideouts in the Hisarak and Sherzad districts in the Nangarhar province, local government said in a statement. In the Logar province, an airstrike killed eight militants and wounded four others who were planting landmines and roadside bombs along a provincial highway Saturday night, Afghan army’s 203rd Tandar Corps said in a statement.

The Afghan security forces have recently beefed up operations against Taliban militants who have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions in the countryside during the winter. Taliban militants have not commented on the reports so far.