(Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces backed by foreign troops killed 16 Taliban militants in Jalai district of southern province Kandahar while Afghan police killed two insurgents in Dand district of the same province, an official said Saturday. The combined force bombed Taliban hideouts in Jalai district Friday, killing 16 rebels including one commander named Mullah Torjan, Kandahar's police chif Sayed Aqa Saqib told Xinhua.
The day-long fighting came as the Afghan army, police and international forces were conducting a major anti-insurgent operation in Jalai and Panjwayi districts of Kandahar, he said.
On the same day, a police vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in the district, leaving six policemen wounded, according to the police chief.
He added Afghan police during a fighting with Taliban militants on Friday in Dand, a district close to the provincial capital Kandahar city, killed two insurgents, Saqib added.
Insurgency-related bombing attacks and ambushes are on the rise across Afghanistan while Afghan and international troops have been conducting a series of search and clear-up operations against anti-government militants in the south, east and west regions. Over 30 people were killed in militants' bombing attacks during the past four days in the post-Taliban nation.