Six Taliban rebels killed in Afghanistan

At least six suspected pro-Taliban rebels were killed and five others detained in military operations by NATO-led forces in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said Wednesday.

"The Afghan National Security and Coalition Forces killed six insurgents and detained five suspected insurgents," the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

The forces also discovered weapons and "safely cleared five improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during the operations in eastern Afghanistan" in the last 24 hours, it said.

The operations were conducted in Ghazni, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika and Parwan provinces, it added.

The Afghan security forces and the ISAF troops have intensified operations against Taliban and other militant groups recently.

Earlier Wednesday, one Afghan policeman was killed and one cop and seven civilians were wounded when an IED went off in Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar province, officials said, adding that several children were among the wounded.

On Tuesday, three US soldiers of the ISAF were killed in an IED attack in the southern Kandahar province.