32 militants killed in Afghan operations

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Thirty-two militants have been killed in various Afghan provinces in the last 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Friday.

"Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops conducted cleanup operations in Baghlan, Kunduz, Balkh, Logar, Helmand and Kandahar provinces over the past 24 hours. As a result 26 Taliban insurgents had been killed, five wounded and six Taliban were detained," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

The joint forces also seized weapons and found 49 rounds of landmines, it said.

On Thursday, six other militants, who were planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along main roads, were killed when their IEDs went off prematurely in southern Kandahar and neighboring Helmand provinces, the statement noted.

The Taliban, which has been waging an insurgency for more than one decade, has yet to make comments.

On Thursday morning, eight Afghan laborers working in a U.S. military base were killed by the Taliban in the eastern province of Logar.