KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 21 militants have been killed in the northern and eastern region of Afghanistan over the past 24 hours as the defense ministry has increased airstrikes against anti-government militant groups, officials said Friday.

In the latest airstrikes on militants, the fighting planes struck Gul Tipa district of the northern Kunduz province in the early hours of Friday, killing seven armed insurgents on the spot, army spokesman in the province Abdul Khalil Khalili said.

According to Khalili, a Taliban hideout was utterly destroyed and their weapons were completely smashed during the raids.

In similar strikes, the fighting aircrafts pounded a position of militants loyal to the Taliban outfit in Giro district of the eastern Ghazni province late Thursday night, killing eight armed insurgents and wounding several others, provincial governor's spokesman Aref Nuri said.

Fighting planes also struck a hideout of the Islamic State (IS) in Suliman Khil area of the restive Pachir Agam district in the eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday, killing six militants, said an army statement released Friday.

According to defense ministry officials, security forces would use all possible means, especially the air power to pursue the militants in the militancy-plagued country.

The U.S. forces based in Afghanistan, according to media reports, have increased airstrikes against insurgent groups and dropped 948 munitions in September, the highest number of munitions dropped for a single month since October 2010. Enditem

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