At Least 24 Taliban Militants Killed in Afghanistan: Army

The security forces in crackdown on the Taliban hideouts killed eight armed insurgents in the restive Baraki Barak district of the eastern Logar province, said an army statement, Xinhua news agency reported.

The operation, according to the statement released Saturday, was launched late Friday and lasted for a few hours, leaving eight insurgents dead and wounding two others.

Similarly, eight militants were reportedly killed and seven others injured in Taloka area of the northern Kunduz province as government forces kicked off operations early on Saturday, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi asserted.

Meanwhile, Taliban militants executed three members of the rival Daesh group in Khostak valley of Jarm district in the northern Badakhshan province on Saturday, Abdullah, a police officer in the troubled district, claimed.

A bomb blast for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, killed a senior officer of the Border Police Force and wounded three others in the southern Helmand province on Saturday.

At least five more people including three children, according to security officials, were killed elsewhere in the insurgency-plagued country over the past 24 hours.

Disputing the claims, Taliban spokesman Zabihuallah Majahid in contact with media emphasized that dozens of security forces had been killed elsewhere in the country over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, a total of 31 Daesh members along with their families including 62 women and children surrendered to the security forces in Achin district of the eastern Nangarhar province over the past 24 hours, said a statement of the provincial government.

Since the warring sides in Afghanistan often exaggerate the casualties of their opponents, it is difficult to verify with independent sources.