27 Taliban militants killed in Afghan military raids

Twenty-seven Taliban militants were killed during a series of clean-up operations in different Afghan provinces, the country's interior ministry said Wednesday.

"In the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), army, National Security Directorate and the NATO-led troops carried out several raids, killing 27 armed Taliban insurgents," the ministry said in a statement.

Ten militants were also injured and seven arrested during the raids, which were launched in Nuristan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Kandahar, Wardak and Helmand provinces, reported Xinhua.

In addition, the ANP defused five improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Faryab and Paktiya provinces.

However, the Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than a decade, has yet to make any comment.

Earlier Wednesday morning, two Afghan army soldiers were wounded and one army van was damaged in an IED attack in Pul-e-Behsoud area of the eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial police spokesman Colonel Hazrat Husain Mashriqiwal told Xinhua.