The U.S.-led Coalition Forces and Afghan troops killed five militants and detained seven others early Sunday in two separate operations in Khost province of east Afghanistan and Kandahar province of the south, a Coalition statement issued here said.
"Afghan and the Coalition forces conducted a raid to significantly disrupt Haqqani terrorist network operations in Khost district, capital city of Khost province, during which the combined force conducted a thorough search of multiple buildings in several compounds with no shots fired," the statement said.
It added that the joint forces found one AK-47 assault rifle, a pistol and 15,000 Pakistan Ruppe (about $200 U.S.) hidden in one of the compounds and arrested four suspected militants without incident.
In the other operation in Maywand district of Kandahar Province, the Afghan Special Operations Forces (ASOF) and the Coalition forces conducted a complex operation to disrupt a foreign fighter and weapons facilitation network operating in western Kandahar, the statement said.
"Five militants who maneuvered on the force were killed during the operation," it said. "Several buildings were cleared without incident and three suspected militants were detained."
It further said that "the operation is ongoing."
Conflicts and Taliban-linked insurgency had left over 5,000 people, with some 2,000 civilians dead, in 2008 while the violence is predicted to go up in 2009 as the U.S. government has announced reinforcement of troops for curbing the militancy in the post- Taliban central Asian state.