22 Taliban militants killed in fresh raids: Afghan gov't

Some 22 Taliban militants have been killed and 28 wounded as the Afghan security forces pressed ahead with offensives in restive provinces, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

"Afghan army, police and personnel of intelligence agency carried out cleanup operations in Ghazni, Khost, Sari Pul, Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Faryab provinces within the past 24 hours, killing 22 armed Taliban militants, wounding 28 and detaining one," the ministry said in a statement.

They also seized weapons and defused four roadside bombs planted by the militants, the statement said, without elaborating the casualties of the security forces.

The Taliban insurgent group responded with bombing and armed attacks.

Earlier on Monday, one civilian was killed and another wounded after their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the eastern Laghman province.

The U.S. and NATO-led troops will switch from combat to supportive role by the end of this year. The NATO-led Resolute Support mission will focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan forces, and nearly 13,000 foreign forces will be involved, according to NATO officials in Afghanistan.