Security forces have killed 17 militants during operations in Badakhshan province with Faizabad as its capital 315 km northeast of Kabul since Sunday, a local official said Monday. "The operations launched in Khostak area of Jarm district on Sunday morning and so far 17 Taliban rebels including some foreign fighters have been killed,"deputy to provincial police chief Sakhidad Haidary told Xinhua.

Taliban notorious commander Mullah Fazlullah who was behind killing and beheading of about two dozen security personnel early this month is also among those killed during the operations, the official added.

A group of Taliban militants stormed security personnel bases in Khostak area of Jarm district on April 10 and had killed about two dozen government soldiers, 10 of them beheaded.

Haidary said that operations in Khostak area would continue with the objective to eliminate Taliban insurgents till ensuring lasting peace there.

Taliban militants who launched their so-called annual spring offensive on April 24 in parts of the conflict-ridden country have yet to make comment. Endi

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