Airstrikes kill 17 militants, wound 1 in E. Afghan provinces

SHARAN, Afghanistan - Seventeen Taliban militants were killed in airstrikes hitting Taliban positions in two eastern Afghan provinces over the weekend, authorities said Monday.

"Seven militants, including a Taliban bomb expert, were killed after Afghan Air Force (AAF) struck a Taliban hideout in Tooat locality, Yaya Khil district Sunday evening," provincial police spokesman, Haidar Hadil, told Xinhua.

The precise sortie was conducted in accordance with a confirmed intelligence report, he said.

In neighboring Wardak province, 10 militants were killed and one other wounded after AAF launched the airstrike in support of the ground forces in surrounding areas of Sayyed Abad district, Afghan National Army Special Operations Corps confirmed in a statement, adding amount of heavy and light weapons were destroyed by the air raid.

No civilian was affected during the sorties.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have been continuing cleanup operations across Afghanistan since early this year as daily violence and clashes remain in the country.