Afghan police, backed by army and NATO-led Coalition forces, have killed 30 armed insurgents and detained 40 others during operations in different provinces over the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
"The Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan Army and Coalition Forces launched 17 joint operations in surrounding areas of Kabul, Kunar, Nooristan, Faryab, Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Khost, Paktika, Paktiya and Herat provinces over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in the statement.
"As a result of these operations, 30 armed insurgents were killed and 40 other armed insurgents were arrested by the ANP," it said.
The ANP also discovered and confiscated four AK-47guns, 225 kg of Improvised Explosive Device (IED), three BM-1 rockets, 600 machine gun bullets, one PKM machine gun with 160 bullets, one round mortar mine, 3 hand grenades, and one radio handset, according to the statement.
Afghan officials often use the word "insurgents" referring to the Taliban.
Taliban insurgents, whose regime was toppled in a U.S.-led incursion in late 2001, have intensified activities since the militant group announced to launch a spring offensive against Afghan security forces and NATO-led troops stationed in Afghanistan on May 1, have yet to make comments.