About 186 Taliban militants have been killed in clashes with the security forces and airstrikes across Afghanistan since early Monday, the Afghan Defense Ministry said on Tuesday morning. "A total of 186 terrorists were killed, 58 wounded and eight others detained during military operations and airstrikes over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. The statement also confirmed losing 10 army personnel in separate attacks over the same period. The military operations were conducted in Nangarhar, Kapisa, Ghazni, Zabul, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Takhar, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Baghlan and Helmand provinces, according to the statement. The Taliban militant group has yet to make comments. In eastern Ghazni province, sporadic clashes has been continuing in outskirts of provincial capital Ghazni city since early Monday when Taliban launched attacks from several directions, according to deputy provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi. "Several dozens of militants have been killed as security forces are repelling the attacks. Two local Taliban leaders named Abdul Salam and Qari Idris were among the killed," Ahmadi told Xinhua earlier on Monday. "Due to ongoing clashes, the main roadway connecting Afghan capital of Kabul to southern provinces remained blocked for second day as hundreds of passengers stuck along the road," he said. The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since mid April when the militant group launched its so-called annual spring offensive in different places of the militancy-plagued country which had claimed hundreds of lives including militants, security personnel and civilians.
