7 Afghan soldiers, 31 militants killed

KABUL): Seven Afghan soldiers and 31 insurgents were killed in a string of operations and security incidents in different parts of the country over the past 24 hours, officials said on Thursday.

The soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb early in the morning in the Nawrozak area of Baghlan-i-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province, said a military commander, Lt. Col. Janullah Safi.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that they had killed seven ANA soldiers, including a commander, in the bomb attack.

The Ministry of Interior said 27 fighters were killed, eight wounded and 24 others detained  as a result of a joint operation by Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers.

During the operations in Kabul, Laghman, Takhar, Kunduz, Zabul, Logar, Ghazni, Herat, Farah and Helmand provinces, police seized a large amount of ammunitions, IEDs and two motorcycles.

A statement from the ministry said police discovered and defused three remote-controlled landmines in Samangan and Balkh provinces.

In Kabul, two individuals were detained on the charge of robbery and murder in the 15th police district of Kabul.

A a policeman was among four people injured on Wednesday evening when a border police vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Marko Bazaar of Ghanikhel district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, border police spokesman Idrees Momand said.

In the central province of Uruzgan, four bomb planters were killed by their own explosives on Wednesday night when they were planting a roadside bomb in Charchino district, said the police spokesman, Farid Ayel.

myn/mud

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