KABUL: Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban militants in Shirzad district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Scores of militants were killed over the past five days in eastern Nangarhar province as the Afghan security forces stepped up the crackdown on them, an army commander in the province said Tuesday.

Nangarhar and the neighboring Kunar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces have been the scene of increasing insurgency over the past few years. Security forces have also discovered and defused 80 improvised explosive devices.

The provincial commander, General Karim Niazi said on Tuesday that 22 militants were killed and 11 others injured in Hisarak and Shirzad districts over the past 24 hours, reports Xinhua news agency. Overall there were more than 80 dead militants as a result of the operations, he said.

Without providing details on the identity of the militants, the official added that the security operations would last until the insurgents were completely wiped out of the province.  Both the Taliban and the Islamic State terror group are active in parts of Nangarhar. A number of Taliban and Islamic State members were arrested over the past weeks in the province.

"Securing the strategically important Nangarhar would ultimately shrink the activities of militants in neighboring Kunar, Nuristan and Laghman provinces," a local observer said.

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