The Pakistani military said on April 23 that at least 47 Taliban fighters have been killed in air strikes over the last two days in the North Waziristan tribal area.

The air strikes targeted a stronghold of Taliban insurgents in the Datta Khel village in the North Waziristan tribal district, according to a statement by the military.

The number and identity of those killed cannot be verified because Pakistan’s mountainous tribal areas are off-limits for journalists.

The area is close to the Afghan border and has been targeted by U.S. drone strikes in the past.

The latest attack was part of a counter-insurgency operation by the Pakistani army against Pakistan’s Taliban, the Tehrik-i Taliban (TTP) that began in June 2014 after the TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed responsibility for an assault on Karachi’s airport.

Three soldiers embraced martyrdom and 19 militants were killed in separate military operations across the country in past 24 hours, General Zahir Azimi spokesman for the Ministry of Defense announced to Khaama.

General Zahir Azimi in a statement says that three soldiers embraced martyrdom due to a blast and enemy fire.

He has not written the exact location of the enemy actions in the statement issued.

General Azimi further says that 19 militants were killed during separate military operations in two provinces in past 24 hours.

According to General Azimi’s statement 16 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were also discovered and defused by the military in past 24 hours.

According to a UN report published recently IEDs are the second biggest cause of increase in civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Seven civilians including four children lost their lives when their Rickshaw vehicle ran over a landmine in Khashroad District of southwestern Nimroz province yesterday.

At least 19 de-miners who were abducted by militants of the Haqqani terrorist network were rescued by the operatives of the Afghan intelligence, wrote Khaama.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the hostages were freed on Tuesday by the intelligence operatives.

The de-miners were kidnapped by the militants from Gardez city of Pakia province, according to NDS.

This comes as the local officials had earlier said the de-miners were kidnapped from Zurmat district following an attack by the unknown gunmen.

The officials further added that four vehicles and other equipment belong to the de-mining organization were also taken by the militants.

Paktia is among the relatively volatile provinces in eastern Afghanistan where anti-government armed militant groups are actively operating.

Kidnappings which takes mainly on highways have become more common in Afghanistan besides growing insurgency by the Taliban militants and insurgents belonging to the other militant groups.

The kidnappings have sparked fears among the people who are travelling on highways.

At least four people who are believed to be Hazara men were beheaded by the militants on Friday – shortly after they were kidnapped by the militants in southeastern Ghazni province.

In the meantime, at least 31 people who are mostly Hazaras are still missing after they were kidnapped by the militants from Zabul province in February.

Afghan officials say an explosion near a southern police station has killed three people and wounded 17.

Samim Khpalwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the explosion Tuesday morning struck the city of Kandahar, the capital of Kandahar province. Authorities initially believed a car bomb caused the explosion, but later said they were unsure what happened.

Qayyum Pokhla, the head of Kandahar’s regional hospital, says the blast killed three people, including two police officers and one woman. He said the explosion wounded 17.

Mashaal Radio has published a report stating that Islamic State and Taliban group have announced Jihad against each other, according to Khaama.

Nabi Jan Mullahkhil, police chief of southern Helmand province has told Mashaal Radio during an interview that he has received documents in which both the terrorist groups have announced Jihad against each other.

Mashaal Radio which is related to Azadi Radio quotes Mullahkhil as saying when the matter of peace talks between government and Taliban comes into discussion some intelligence agencies make new groups to keep the war ongoing in Afghanistan.

Reports of minor clashes between the fighters of Taliban group and the newly emerged Daesh have published in the past.

Both groups oppose each other.

Abdu Bakar Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS has called Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar “a fool and illiterate warlord”.

Al-Baghdadi has said that Mullah Omar does not deserve a spiritual or political credibility. While on the other hand Taliban fighters have been ordered by their leaders not to let Daesh flag raise in Afghanistan.

A suicide bomber attacked a police station in the provincial capital of Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, killing three people, a doctor at a local hospital that received the bodies said Monday.

Provincial police chief Gen. Nabi Jan Mullahkhail said three people were wounded when a suicide bomber struck the gate of the compound in Lashkar Gah late Sunday, allowing two other militants to enter. He declined to elaborate.

But Dr. Darwesh at the Emergency hospital, an international charity, said it had received the bodies of two policemen and one civilian. Another 11 people wounded in the attack are being treated there, he said. He asked that his last name not be published because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to media.

Helmand province is a stronghold of the Taliban, who have been fighting the Kabul government for more than a decade.

The group controls much of the poppy crop that is grown in the province, which is the source of most of the world’s heroin.

For more than two months, Afghan security forces have been fighting to dislodge the insurgents from Helmand, ahead of the warmer weather when the Taliban send seasoned fighters across the mountainous border from Pakistan for what it calls its “summer offensive.”

The group has not declared the beginning of the fighting season, but recent attacks indicate that the annual offensive has begun.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber on an explosives-laden motorbike blew himself up outside a bank in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing at least 35 people and wounding around 125, authorities said.

The Taliban, who have long been active in Nangarhar province, where Jalalabad is the capital, denied carrying out the attack. President Ashraf Ghani attributed the attack to the Islamic State group, which has a small but growing presence in the country, though he did not reveal the source of his information.