Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 13, 2017. (Xinhua/Abdul Aziz Safdari)

KABUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 32 Afghans were set free after army commandos raided a Taliban-run detention center in the southern Helmand province Sunday night, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"Units of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces raided a Taliban prison in Cha-e-Mirza locality, Nad Ali district Sunday night and released 32 people who had been taken hostage by Taliban from the district and surrounding areas over the past months," the statement said.

Among the released were four policemen, it added.

The freed people were shifted to Shorab Camp, a main Afghan military base in Helmand, before joining their families in the province, 555 km south of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul.

Helmand, notorious for poppy growing, is also a known Taliban stronghold.