Key district cleared, 8 militants killed in Afghan province

MAIMANA, Afghanistan–At least eight Taliban militants, including two local insurgents' commanders, were killed and 10 others wounded following a clearance operation in Afghanistan's restive northern province of Faryab, an army official said Monday. 

"Eight Taliban militants, including two of their commanders, were killed and 10 others wounded, during an operation resulting in the full clearance of Khwaja Sabz Posh of Faryab province," Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, a press officer of army's Division 20 Pamir, told Xinhua. 

The operation is still ongoing, said the officer but did not provide details if security forces or civilians sustained casualties. Militants fighting government forces in the region were not available for comment. 

Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting from a 
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