Kabul, May 15: Afghan and coalition forces conducted sweeps across Afghanistan that left at least 30 militants dead, while insurgents in the east killed five security guards in an ambush on a vehicle convoy, officials said on Saturday.
Before dawn on Friday, international and Afghan forces carried out an operation in the Sangin district of Helmand province and 10 insurgents were killed, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the regional governor.
Mullah Mohammed Hassan, a “prominent” Taliban commander who was involved in many insurgent attacks in northern Helmand province, was captured in the Sangin village of Pirqadam Kariz during the raid, Ahmadi said.
No security forces or troops were injured in the operation, he said. NATO did not provide immediate comment.
In southern Zabul province, a bridge on a highway linking the province with neighboring Kandahar, was blown up with explosives, according to Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, spokesman for provincial governor of Zabul. Traffic was being diverted around the explosion site in Shahrasafa district. No one was injured.
Violence in southern Afghanistan has been on an upswing in recent weeks, following a broad operation in the town of Marjah in Helmand province and as NATO and Afghan forces ramp up security efforts in neighboring Kandahar.
-Agencies