MAIMANA, Afghanistan, March 18 (Xinhua) -- As many as 39 Taliban militants were killed and 10 others wounded following operations in Afghanistan's northern turbulent Faryab and Kunduz provinces, an army source said Monday.
The Afghan Air Force bombed the militants' hideouts in Qaysar district of Faryab late on Sunday night, killing up to 28 Taliban fighters and wounding eight others, Hanif Rezai, spokesman of army Corps 209 Shaheen based in the region, told Xinhua.
The strike was a retaliatory sortie against a Taliban attack on security checkpoints in Qaysar on Saturday night that left 21 army soldiers and policemen dead and 10 others injured.
Elsewhere in Kunduz province, Afghan forces launched a military operation in Aykhanum area of Chahar Dara district, leaving 11 militants dead, two wounded and eight others including one of Taliban local commander named Mullah Mohammad Yousuf arrested, the spokesman said.
Arms, ammunition and several militants' motorcycles have also been seized during the operation, according to the source.
No security forces or civilians have been reported dead or injured, and no comment was made by the Taliban militants on the operation yet.
