<p>KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): Twenty-five <a href="/en/taliban" class="glossify-link">Taliban</a> militants, including three local commanders, have been killed during security forces’ operation in the Khakrez district of southern Kandahar province, officials said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Another five rebels were wounded and a dozen more captured alive during the offensive conducted last night by special police forces, the provincial government spokesman, Samim Khpalwak, told Pajhwok Afghan News.</p>
<p>He identified the slain local commanders as Zubair, <a href="/en/mullah" class="glossify-link">Mullah</a> Mubarak Shah and a third commander whose identity was yet to be ascertained.</p>
<p>Khpalwak also said the police had confiscated weapons and ammunition belonging to the slain rebels.</p>
<p>Kandahar police spokesman Zia Durrani also said 25 insurgents had been killed during the operation that targeted militant hideouts. He said the operation was precisely carried out and the police and civilians suffered no casualties.</p>
<p>The Taliban have said nothing about the operation in Khakrez district, the second town after Maiwand where insurgents sustained heavy losses as a result of operations against them since last week.</p>
<p>Security officials had said 35 rebels were killed in the Maiwand district.</p>
<p>Two days ago, the provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq, had said that the insurgents had intensified their attacks in Kandahar.</p>
<p>He had said security forces used to conduct an operation after every 12 hours or came under attack from the rebels in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.</p>
<p>ma</p>
