Afghan forces kill 18 militants, but denied by Taliban

Afghan forces operations against Taliban militants have claimed the lives of 18 Taliban fighters and led to arresting 35 others over the past five days, officials said Friday. In the latest crackdown against Taliban militants, the security forces raided Taliban hideouts in Charchino district of the southern Uruzgan province 370 km south of Kabul on Thursday and so far 18 insurgents have been killed, police asserted. \"Security forces launched cleanup operation in Charchino district on Thursday and so far 18 rebels including a Taliban local military leader Mawlawi Islam have been killed,\" the statement added. Twelve more militants have been captured, it contended. In a similar development, the Afghan police backed by the national army have arrested nearly two dozen Taliban militants over the past five days in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province 250 km north of Kabul, provincial police chief Khalil Andarabi said Friday. \"During the five-day operations which concluded Friday morning, the police have captured 23 Taliban rebels and ensured law and order in 10 villages of Dasht-e-Archi district,\" Andarabi told Xinhua. There were no casualties on police and civilians during the operations, he contended. However, the Taliban outfit fighting the government has rejected the claim as groundless, saying the militants have inflicted casualties to the government forces. The armed militant group in a statement pasted on its website on Friday, claiming the armed militants killed two police in Charchino district on Thursday and inflicted huge casualties on Afghan and U.S. forces in the western Herat and southern Paktia provinces on Friday morning. Since warring sides in Afghanistan exaggerate the casualties of opponents, it is difficult to get verification from independent sources.