MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Eight militants were killed and nine others wounded after Afghan army's war planes pounded Taliban positions in two provinces, the military said on Tuesday.
In one incident, three Taliban roadside bomb experts were killed and two others wounded when Afghan Air Force launched an airstrike in eastern Laghman province earlier on Tuesday, the army's 201 Selab Corps said in a statement.
"On specific intelligence inputs, Afghan Air Force targeted five militants, who were busy in planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along a road in Shakarman valley of Alishing district roughly at 3:00 a.m. local time Tuesday. The sortie left three militants named Abubakar, Abu Muslim and Ali Haidar killed and two others wounded," the statement added.
Taliban militants have been using home-made IEDs to make roadside bombs, landmines and suicide attack vest to target security forces, but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.
On Monday, three children were killed and nine civilians wounded in an IED explosion in Laghman.
In northern Baghlan province, five Taliban militants, including a Taliban divisional commander Isaac Gojar, were killed and seven militants wounded in a sortie that targeted a Taliban hideout in Dahana-i-Ghori district on Monday, army's 217 Pamir Corps confirmed.
Two Taliban bunkers that also used as militants' control and command posts were destroyed during the strike, according to the source.
In an unrelated development, 10 Taliban fighters, including their commander named Ghulam Nabi, surrendered to Afghan army in northern Sari Pul province, the Afghan Defense Ministry said earlier on Tuesday.
The ministry wrote on Twitter that the former militants also handed over some amount of weapons and ammunition to army officials on Monday.
The Afghan security forces have recently beefed up security operations against the Taliban militants who have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions in the countryside ahead of winter.
The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than 18 years, has not made a comment yet.
