23 August, Kabul: Up to 84 armed militants were killed and 17 injured amid operations launched by Afghan security forces over the last 24 hours, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

“Afghan National Security and Defense Forces have conducted 18 clean up operations, 18 special operations and one night raid operation in 14 of the country’s 34 provinces, killing 84 terrorists and wounding 17 others,” the ministry said in a statement.

Those among the killed were six members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, the statement added.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations as the militants have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions.

The Taliban and IS militants fighting Afghan government have yet to make comment. Xinhua