Twenty-two people, most of them Taliban, were killed in new unrest in Afghanistan, as the southern city of Kandahar struggled to recover following a pair of deadly suicide blasts. Nineteen Taliban were killed and 17 fighters, including two Pakistani nationals, arrested on Sunday in a raid by Afghan forces in southern Helmand province, deputy provincial governor Mullah Amir Akhundzada said.
The operation around the provincial capital Lashkar Gah was launched after elders from several villages complained that Taliban were intimidating residents, including by allegedly extorting money from them, he said.
Taliban rebels are extremely active in Helmand, launching regular attacks on British forces based there and briefly capturing two districts last week.
In other violence reported Sunday, police said three policemen were killed and three others kidnapped in a Taliban attack on a police checkpoint in south-eastern Ghazni province.