Ten militants killed, 14 captured in Afghanistan

The latest violence was announced, as a NATO-led peacekeeping force took over Monday from a US-led coalition.

Ten Taliban militants were killed and 14 others were captured in fighting with Afghan and coalition forces in insurgency-hit Afghanistan, the defence ministry said on Monday.

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Six rebels were killed on Sunday after dozens of Afghan and US-led coalition troops were dropped from planes and raided their hideout in Waza district of eastern Paktika province, the ministry said in a statement.

Eleven others were captured as the troops chased militants fleeing the area, it said. Three other militants were captured the same day in Barmal, a border town in the same province, the statement said.

Then Afghan troops backed by coalition forces killed four insurgents in southern Uruzgan province's Charchino district, also on Sunday, it said. Charchino is a known Taliban stronghold.

Security forces announced at the weekend they had killed 20 Taliban in various clashes across southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The latest violence was announced, as a NATO-led peacekeeping force took over Monday from a US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan, which sees among the worst Taliban violence.

With the move, the number of NATO troops in six southern provinces, including Uruzgan, will double to 8,000.

The extremist Taliban movement was driven from government five years ago but is still able to carry out regular attacks, mainly targeting foreign and Afghan troops as well as government officials and aid workers.

The violence has surged in recent weeks with hundreds of people killed, most of them militants.