KABUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 15 Taliban militants have been killed and 33 others arrested as Afghan forces and NATO-led coalition troops launched eight military operations within the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Wednesday morning.
"Afghan police, army and NATO-led coalition forces launched eight cleanup operations over the past 24 hours, killing 15 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 33 others suspected," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.
The statement said that five other insurgents were injured during the raids conducted in southern Helmand and Zabul and eastern Nangarhar, Ghazni and Khost provinces.
The joint forces also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.
However, the Taliban insurgent group, which announced it would launch a spring rebel offensive from May 3 against Afghan and NATO forces, has not make comments yet.
Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militant groups throughout the country recently as spring and summer, known as "fighting seasons" draw near.
Over 800 insurgents have been killed and more than 1,450 others detained in the country so far this year, according to the figures released by the Afghan Interior Ministry.
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