KABUL, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Some 44 militants were killed after Afghan army, police and intelligence agency personnel launched wide-scale operations against militants' hideouts within the past 24 hours, said the Defense Ministry on Wednesday.
Up to 43 militants were also wounded during the operations in nine of Afghanistan's 34 provinces within the period, the ministry said in a statement.
In one operation, 19 Taliban militants had been killed and 15 wounded when the joint troops raided their bunkers on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, capital of the restive southern Helmand province.
In neighboring Uruzgan province, some 10 militants were killed and 12 wounded as the joint forces raided Taliban hideouts in Shah Mansoor, a village outside the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, according to the statement.
Helmand and Uruzgan provinces have been the scene of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the government forces there.
The remaining casualties on the side of militants took place in countryside.
Supported by the army's artillery and warplanes, the troops also found weapons and defused dozens of landmines during the raids, the statement said without disclosing whether there were any casualties on security forces.
The Taliban militant group has yet to make comments.
